Committee clears Honeywell proposal to expand facility

The High-Level Clearance Committee (HLCC) chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cleared a proposal by Honeywell to expand its facility at a cost of Rs 1,373 crore.

Disclosing this to the media, Siddaramaiah said the HLCC had given in-principle approval to the company to purchase 5.4 acres at Doddakannahalli in Varthur taluk near Bangalore for the project. The permission will be given under Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, he added.

Asked whether he saw Andhra Pradesh as a threat in view of its Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu aggressively wooing investors, he said Andhra Pradesh was no match to Karnataka as far as the development of IT was concerned. “We are also attracting investors to Karnataka. A number of projects have been cleared ever since my government came to power. We do not need to consult Naidu or anybody else to do it (woo investors),” Siddaramaiah said.

IT&BT Minister S R Patil said he had held a meeting with the representatives of Infosys on problems they were facing and promised to resolve them. The company has some minor issues in Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli cities. 

The government will act immediately upon them and create a conducive investment atmosphere across the State. “Infosys has no problem in Karnataka. It has no plans to leave Karnataka. We are proud of the company, and it is proud of Karnataka,” he said.

Hudco loan for ITIR

The minister said the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) had come forward to lend Rs 1,000 crore to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for taking up the proposed Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) project near Devanahalli.

The final notification for acquiring land for the project will be issued by December-end. Preliminary notification to acquire 2,012 acres has been already issued. About 8,000 acres will be acquired in the second phase. More than 50 companies have expressed interest in the project.

Besides, the State-Level Single Window Clearance Committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee gave its in-principle approval to 30 projects with a total investment of Rs 1,070 crore. Investment proposals have come under Aerospace, Energy, Engineering, Food and Infrastructure sectors.