Karnataka seeks SEZ zonal office in Bengaluru

The government has written to the Centre to open a zonal centre for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Bengaluru, by either shifting the one in Kochi or by starting a new centre.

The demand, Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar told the Council, was being made, since 36 of the 62 SEZs in the country were in Karnataka.

Responding to a query by Congress member P R Ramesh, Shettar said 495 industrial units were operational in SEZs of Karnataka, through which 3.74 lakh job opportunities were created.

Products worth 1.18 lakh crore and 1.01 lakh crore were exported from the SEZs in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively.

Shifting the zonal centre to Bengaluru would ease the administration of such zones and also help in addressing any concerns faced by them.

The government, Shettar said, has also formed a committee to verify whether factories set up in the state were following guidelines on employing locals and to assess whether the industrial units followed directions issued by the government.

Karnataka attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth Rs 78,160 crore between October 2019 and December 2020, Shettar said, noting that Karnataka stood first in terms of investment proposals.

According to official figures, Karnataka attracted Rs 1.6 lakh crore of the Rs 4 lakh crore investment proposals received by the country. The Covid-19 pandemic has not affected FDI inflow, Shettar said.

He said that the government would initiate strict action against those firms which violated guidelines on providing employment to locals, as per the new Industrial Policy.

“We have formulated laws to cancel the special incentives offered to industries which violate employment guidelines,” he said.

As per the policy, all group ‘D’ jobs and 70% of the remaining jobs should be reserved for locals, Shettar added.