Jigani may be next IT hub

Jigani may be next IT hub
Government’s solution for traffic congestion is to encourage residential areas to be set up in Jigani.
Deccan Herald:

Fed up with brickbats from the information technology (IT) industry about bad traffic management and poor infrastructure, the State Government has decided to ‘restrict’ approval of more industries in and around Electronic City.

Sources in the Urban Development Department said that with infrastructure capacity in areas along Hosur Road reaching saturation point, approval will only be given for land bought for non-industrial uses. An effort is being made to encourage more residential areas for IT professionals who are working in and around the Electronic City, so that they don’t have to travel much (and cause traffic jams).

A senior official explained, “We don’t mind sanctioning residential areas or complexes or public utility buildings like marriage halls. But there is no question of sanctioning more industries in this area. We want to create a better work-home match. If more professionals of this area decide to build or buy houses here, it’s fine as it will reduce the burden on road and transport services. As of now, most people working in Electronic City travel from the heart of the city, which is reflected in the heavy traffic.”

The idea is to put less pressure on infrastructure facilities of Electronic city, with industries spread over a larger area, as well as to decongest traffic to some extent. If more residential areas spring up in the area, there will be lesser vehicular movement on the Hosur Road. “Thousands of people work here, but the IT companies which complain about traffic have not given much thought on how far away their employees live. That’s why they are cribbing about roads,” said an official.

Industries Department officials, when contacted, said the reason to restrict sanctioning of industries in the region was very simple, “There is just no land there,” they exclaimed. Though more industrial land can be acquired around E-city if need be, it is being considered, however, to encourage only residential areas around the industries, they confirmed.

According to the official, the Industries Department has been asked to sanction land for industries only in the newly-developed Jigani Link Road industrial area, as a double-lane link road (between Jigani and Bommasandra) has been developed in this region to enable traffic. “The alternative we are offering is Jigani, which is very close by and where the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has acquired about 700 acres of land for industrial purposes.
From Jigani, the road is so good that you can get to Electronic City in just seven minutes,” said the official.

But Industries Department officials are worried that land along Jigani link road too may become scarce soon. “About 100 acres of the land acquired has been taken up already.

The pressure is so much that within a month, we would probably have no land at all and would have to begin scouting again for land in other areas,” said an official.
He pointed out that industrial areas near Dobbspet, along Tumkur Road national highway 4, did not have much of a demand until recently.

But, of the 110 acres that had been acquired by KIADB for industrial purposes in this region, not an inch of land remains to be sold.

Asked about the reason for such heavy investment in the industrial sector, the officials said that allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) has probably boosted investment.

“The steep reduction in interest rates for depositing money in banks may have pushed more people to invest in land and industries too. Banks give you hardly six per cent returns,” noted an official.