The State government on Monday said it was considering a proposal to allow land owned by farmers to be used as equity in industrial projects taken up by small and medium entrepreneurs.

The move is an extension of the announcement made by the government in its agro-business policy that allowsfarmers to lease out their agricultural land to private agro companies, who in turn will have to use technology to increase yield on the leased land.

Speaking at a programme to announce the progress of the projects signed during Global Investors Meet-2012, Large and Medium Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani said the proposal had been sent to the finance department and was under consideration.
To implement the move, the government will have to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1974.

Nirani was responding to a suggestion from a participant at the programme that small and medium scale industries were finding it difficult to purchase land for their projects due to the increase in land rates.

It would be beneficial to both the farmer and the industrialist if the former’s land was taken as equity and made a partner in the industrial venture. Nirani said the government was also planning to allow entrepreneurs to develop industrial layouts on their own after negotiation with farmers.

At present, land for industrial layouts is acquired and developed by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).

Progress report

Earlier, presenting the progress report of the projects signed during GIM-2012, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said 14 of the 248 projects with an investment of Rs 4,351 crore have been implemented. In addition, another 200 projects were under various stages of implementation.

Some of the major projects that have been completed include cement plant in Gulbarga by Chettinad Cement Corporation at a cost of Rs 1,655 crore, 83 MW wind power plant by Doddannavar Global Energy Private Limited in Belgaum at a cost Rs 500 crore and automobile transmission, steering and suspension parts plant in Bangalore Rural by Musashi Auto Parts India at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

Other projects that have been completed include white crystal sugar plant by NSL Sugar Ltd in Gulbarga at a cost of Rs 347 crore and pharmaceutical plant by Apotex Research Pvt Ltd in Bangalore at a cost of Rs 348 crore.

In the Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, Shettar said 776 projects signed in GIM-2012 with an investment of Rs 1,058 crore had been implemented creating employment for about 6,000 people.

Industries and Commerce Department Principal Secretary M N Vidyashankar said the government has launched e-udyami a portal that provides in-depth information to investors about the current status of their investment projects. Registered investors may visit www. advantagekarnataka.com