Bengaluru, 10 March

Minister for Large and Medium Industries, MB Patil, on Tuesday said the State government is pursuing several new industrial projects in north Karnataka and has initiated talks with multiple companies to create employment opportunities in Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts.

Replying to a question raised by BJP MLC Prahlad Pujar in the Legislative Council, Patil said the government is implementing a new industrial policy to encourage investment outside Bengaluru and address regional imbalances in industrial development. “We have been in discussions with around nine or ten companies.”

“As part of our industrial policy for 2025–30, we are continuing the campaign of ‘Beyond Bengaluru’. We have divided the State into three zones — Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3,” Patil said.

He explained that the policy offers varying levels of incentives depending on the region.

“In Zone-1, we offer the highest incentives to attract industries, while Zone-2 gets slightly fewer incentives, and Zone-3 includes Bengaluru, where incentives are minimal,” he said.

The government has adopted recommendations of the Nanjundappa Committee Report to provide additional incentives for industrial investments in backward areas, he said.  “Areas classified as ‘more backward’ get an additional 3 per cent incentive and ‘most backward’ areas get 5 per cent, apart from the zonal incentives.”

Among the projects in the pipeline, he said, a facility by Reliance Industries at Kembhavi is set to begin construction soon. It will “create about 1,600 jobs”.

He said that the global agribusiness company Viterra is setting up a pulses-processing facility that will benefit farmers in Vijayapura and Kalaburagi.

In addition, renewable energy major Suzlon Energy is establishing a rotor-blade manufacturing unit for wind turbines in the region.

State approves railway barricades to curb human-elephant conflict

A 7-km railway barricade has been approved for the Madikeri division and 20 km for the Nagarhole division in 2025–26 to curb human-elephant conflict in the regions, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said on Tuesday while responding to a proposal raised by BJP MLC Suja Kushalappa during Zero Hour in the Legislative Council. He said the Forest Department is taking the issue seriously.