Is BT heading the BATF way?

Is BT heading the BATF way?
Biotech Park Work On, Claim Officials; Don’t Know, Says Kiran
The Times of India

Bangalore: Will the state government-initiated Vision Group (BT) go the BATF way? Looks like it just might.

Check this: Asked about the fate and future of the much-talked about 100-acre BT park, state IT/BT secretary Shankaralinge Gowda said: “The tenders inviting construction contractors for the academic block, to house the Institute of Biotechnology and Bio-informatics, are being floated. However, tenders for the commercial building will take another quarter or so.’’

Responding to a similar query, Vision Group chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said: “I have no clue whatsoever as to when the BT park will take off. I am unable to give a timeframe. There is no clear indication from anywhere. There is enormous delay in implementation. I feel sad that we are losing a lot of BT projects to other states.”

The government has been making announcements that the “city would have Hardware and BT Parks soon” at the inauguration of IT and BT expositions — IT.com and Bio.com —in the last five years. But there ends the excitement. “Karnataka has become notoriously famous for announcing infrastructure projects, but implementing nothing. By doing so, it’s increasingly earning a dubious name. Despite being the leader in IT and BT, it’s losing its vantage position, with many potential business ventures looking at bordering states,’’ industry sources said.

In fact, the Hardware and BT parks should have been a reality three years ago had the government done its job, they said.

“There seems to be inertia. There is no urgency or political will. It is costing the state dear. Preferring Hyderabad or Chennai, many corporates are not even willing to touch Karnataka,” said another source.

Many enterprises that had shown genuine enthusiasm to enter the state have backed out. “They believed the state would soon have exclusive hardware and BT parks. But none can be convinced to stay back just by showing a piece of land.”

On the progress of Hardware Park, Shankaralinge Gowda said his department has already sent a “formal’’ request to the KIADB asking it to acquire 1,419 acres of land in Bangalore, near Devanahalli. “The acquisition itself is expected to take a year,’’ he said.

Hard facts
Hardware Park still on paper.
State losing vantage position.
Business ventures going to other states.

BT secretary says acquisition of land may take a year.

IT/BT secretary Shankaralinge Gowda: Tenders inviting contractors to build the academic block, to house the Institute of Biotechnology and Bio-informatics, are being floated.

Vision Group chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: I have no clue whatsoever as to when the BT park will take off. There is no clear indication from anywhere. We are losing a lot of BT projects to other states.