Sajjan Jindal moots industrial estates near airports in Karnataka

Invest Karnataka Forum (IKF) co-chair Sajjan Jindal on Monday favoured development of industrial parks in regions that are about two hours by road from the nearest airports in the state.

Jindal gave the suggestion to the government at the first meeting of the reconstituted IKF chaired by Industries Minister MB Patil. Large industrial estates closer to airports would attract investments, he said. Jindal operates a giant steel mill, among others, in Karnataka.

Being an industrialist in the state, he knew very well why Karnataka stood out as a preferred investment destination, he added.


Minister Patil responded to Jindal’s suggestion, and said the government also intended to set up industrial parks in an area of 5,000-10,000 acres. They would also make them state-of-the-art with plug and play facilities so that industries could start operations without loss of time, he said.

Investment proposals worth Rs 55,000 crore have been cleared after the new government took over in Karnataka in May last year, and other investment proposals of between Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore are in various stages of processing, Patil said.

The meeting decided to form sub-groups within the IKF to pursue sector-wise investment opportunities. IKF directors Geetanjali Kirloskar (Kirloskar Systems), Vijaykrishnan Venkatesan (Kennametal), Principal Secretary, Industries, S Selvakumar and Industries Commissioner Gunjan Krishna were also present.