IT corridor project gathers dust

IT corridor project gathers dust
‘Krishna Government Proposal No Longer Valid; Involves Too Many Hassles’
The Times of India

Bangalore: Even as promises of good infrastructure are being doled out to the IT industry, the much-hyped ‘IT corridor’ from Devanahalli to Electronic City — a buzzword of the S M Krishna government — has been shelved, virtually.

Four years ago, the state paid Rs 15 crore for just the blueprint drawn by Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) for a corridor that would be a seamless software arc around the city.

The project was ambitious: acquisition of 10,000 hectares from Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli to Electronic City via Whitefield, on either side of a quality road that would cover the 35-km drive in 45 minutes. This ‘dedicated IT’ area was to include IT-specific residential townships, hotels, entertainment centres, multiplexes, golf courses, schools and colleges for Silicon City’s software professionals.

But industries officials told The Times of India: “That proposal is no longer valid. It involves too many hassles.’’

IT secretary M K Shankarlinge Gowda said “a part’’ of the JTC plan had been incorporated in BDA’s revised Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). BDA commissioner N Vidyashankar said: “Of 10,000 hectares, we are planning to acquire 2,500. But this comes under the Green Belt, so the revised CDP has to be approved for us to go ahead.’’

Reasons for holding back this ambitious plan are both political and economic. The IT corridor Bill, brought by the Krishna government, was stalled in the state legislature by all opposition parties — including present coalition partner JD(S) — as “not feasible.’’

Then, soon after the project was announced, all land along the corridor was bought up by politicians, private individuals and developers, ahead of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) notifications. Land rates spiralled and litigations followed for whatever notifications were issued.

‘There is so much confusion. Initially, KIADB was to be nodal agency, then BDA. Then a IT corridor development corporation was proposed, but did not take off,’’ officials said.

The effort could still be worth it: Investment from multinationals and Indian IT giants — quoted in 2002 — was a whopping US $ 1.4 billion. Employment generation was projected at 60,000 (direct) and 15,000 (indirect).

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What Jurong Town Corporation proposed for the ‘IT corridor’ from Devanahalli to Electronic City

• Road from Devanahalli to Electronic City via Whitefield
• Travel time 45 minutes.
• Water supply from Cauvery Stage IV
• Dedicated power lines directly from independent power producers
• Dedicated phonelines from BSNL
• Adequate bandwidth for instant IT connectivity
• Six townships, to house 5 lakh IT personnel, for private players to develop on build-own-operatetransfer basis.
• Investor country-wise sectors like US sector or UK sector.
• 125 primary schools.
• Three engineering colleges.
• Two golf courses.
• Six multiplexes.
• Entertaiment centres.
• Expected investment of US $ 1.4 billion
• Expected employment of 60,000 (direct), 15,000 (indirect)