<p>By 2011, Karnataka will have the largest airport coverage in the country with around 24 districts covered by airport connectivity, he added.<br />Madhu was speaking at the special session on Karnataka at the EXCON 2009, an exhibition of the construction and earthmoving equipment. He said, urban mass transport and development of ports in the State would be also be taken up on a priority basis. <br /><br />He told the invstors here, one third of Rs 25,000 crore that the State plans to invest, will come from private investors. <br />Stating that the State’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was at 7 per cent, he said, “The aim is to reach 9 per cent GSDP and set aside 4 per cent of it for infrastructure development.”<br /><br />The Department’s long-term plans to improve railways and quality of roads were put on hold due to concerns of the environment groups and norms regarding the Western Ghats, one of the ten biodiversity hotspots. <br /><br />He said that for better connectivity to our existing ports and improvement in railways, a corridor would have to be built through the Western Ghats. Madhu said, construction of the corridor was crucial to the development of north Karnataka. <br />Meanwhile, EXCON 2009 Chairman Vipin Sondhi set the agenda for the session by calling for a change in land acquisition norms, skill building and the success rate of PPP (Public Private Partnership) tenders. Sondhi also stressed the need for expediting the dispute resolution process in PPPs.</p>
<p>By 2011, Karnataka will have the largest airport coverage in the country with around 24 districts covered by airport connectivity, he added.<br />Madhu was speaking at the special session on Karnataka at the EXCON 2009, an exhibition of the construction and earthmoving equipment. He said, urban mass transport and development of ports in the State would be also be taken up on a priority basis. <br /><br />He told the invstors here, one third of Rs 25,000 crore that the State plans to invest, will come from private investors. <br />Stating that the State’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was at 7 per cent, he said, “The aim is to reach 9 per cent GSDP and set aside 4 per cent of it for infrastructure development.”<br /><br />The Department’s long-term plans to improve railways and quality of roads were put on hold due to concerns of the environment groups and norms regarding the Western Ghats, one of the ten biodiversity hotspots. <br /><br />He said that for better connectivity to our existing ports and improvement in railways, a corridor would have to be built through the Western Ghats. Madhu said, construction of the corridor was crucial to the development of north Karnataka. <br />Meanwhile, EXCON 2009 Chairman Vipin Sondhi set the agenda for the session by calling for a change in land acquisition norms, skill building and the success rate of PPP (Public Private Partnership) tenders. Sondhi also stressed the need for expediting the dispute resolution process in PPPs.</p>
