Walk-to-work: Residential townships to come up in Karnataka's industrial areas

Karnataka will develop residential townships in industrial areas under the ‘walk-to-work’ concept that will cut the time workers spend in traffic to commute, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani said Friday.

Nirani chaired a meeting on this and directed officials to prepare a blueprint on residential townships in industrial areas.

“Residential townships will be constructed on Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) land and other industrial areas so that workers, officials and other staff reside on the premises. This will help them avoid commuting long distances and, in turn, save crucial man-hours, increase productivity and prevent traffic congestion,” Nirani said in a statement.

“Residential townships will be constructed on 10-15% of land reserved in industrial areas with all basic amenities such as schools, shopping malls, clinics, parks and recreation facilities,” Nirani said.

According to the minister, the industries department is planning to develop 9,010 acres of land for industrial development in Kolar, Ramanagara, Mandya, Tumakuru, Vijayapura and Haveri districts. “Over 81,864 acres of land in 188 industrial areas have been acquired so far and allotted for industrial units across the state,” Nirani said.

The 2021-22 Budget has promised the creation of new industrial townships that are expected to generate an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and create five lakh jobs. Two townships under the Chief Minister Mega Integrated Industrial Townships will be established in both Bengaluru–Mumbai and Bengaluru-Chennai industrial corridors.