In approval blitz, projects worth Rs 6,800 crore cleared

Karnataka issued back-to-back orders approving at least 25 industrial projects worth Rs 6,802 crore in November alone, which includes new investments by medtech firm Wipro GE and agro-processing brand Gujarat Ambuja Exports, documents show.

These 25 projects will create 35,400 jobs.

The approval orders coincide with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai completing 100 days in office, and the new government’s attempts to woo more investments amid the post-pandemic economic growth.

Of these 25 projects, 21 got the orders on November 11 by the technical cell of the Murugesh Nirani-led Commerce & Industries department. DH has copies of all the 25 orders.

Wipro GE is setting up a unit to manufacture medical equipment (CT scanners, ECG, ultrasound, ventilators and so on) in the Kadugodi industrial area in Whitefield, Bengaluru, at a cost of Rs 109 crore.

The Ahmedabad-based Gujarat Ambuja Exports has received a two-year extension to start its sorbitol and ethanol unit in Shiggaon, Bommai’s assembly constituency, with a Rs 100 crore investment.

In terms of money, the project with the highest investment is an iron ore pelletisation plant that Resources Concentrates Pvt Ltd will establish in Sandur (Ballari) with Rs 890 crore. Followed by a sugar plant and private freight terminal that Favorich Agro Pvt Ltd will establish in Nagamangala, Mandya, with Rs 520 crore.

One of the projects that has received an extension order is by RBSSN Ferrous Industries Pvt Ltd to set up an iron oxide pellet and a thermal plant at Hagaribommanahalli in Ballari at a cost of Rs 266 crore. This project was cleared way back in 2010. Since 2011, the company has received three extensions. In May, this year, the company requested the government for another two years citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Companies seeking time extension is a complex issue,” industries commissioner Gunjan Krishna said. “Some big infrastructure projects may require land that (companies) acquire on their own, which takes longer sometimes. Also, getting environmental clearances is another reason,” she said.

Besides conventional industrial/IT parks, some approval orders are for projects in niche areas such as nano urea manufacturing by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd with an investment of Rs 225 crore and a research lab worth Rs 200 crore by JSS Mahavidyapeetha, both in Haraluru Muddenahalli Industrial Area in Devanahalli taluk.

In one case, SS Super Foods went back to the government asking for a fresh approval under the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2020-25 instead of the Karnataka Agri Business and Food Processing Policy under which its cattle feed unit at Shidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur was cleared. The company said the industrial policy offered more concessions. However, Gunjan pointed out that the agri business policy has ended.