KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL

KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL
Deccan Herald

Karnataka eyes a big chunk in the knowledge industry pie, with its proposed Knowledge Hub City in Bidadi. During an exclusive interaction with Deccan Herald, M N Vidyashankar, Secretary in IT & BT Departments traced the plan and potential of the Rs 50,000-crore township.


Outsourcing to innovation. Processing to patents. Execution to knowledge. That’s a thrust shift the Karnataka Government is chalking out in its vision map for the State’s Information Technology sector. And Karnataka’s first real shot at the title of the country’s knowledge capital will come with the Rs 50,000-crore Bidadi Industrial Township — perhaps rightly dubbed by the State IT Department, as Knowledge Hub City.

According to M N Vidyashankar, Secretary in the IT & BT Departments, Bangalore holds around 9,000 patents in the IT sector alone. Further, close to 4,900 applications from Bangalore are pending before the US Patent Office. The Department is looking at bigger numbers with the launch of Knowledge Hub City, that will come up on 9,684 acres spread over eight villages between Bidadi and Ramanagaram. It is expected to house Research and Development facilities of top-line global players in the IT sector.

Knowledge Hub City, designed on a Public Private Partnership model, will have the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority as its nodal agency. A global bid is at present on, after which the project will be handed over to the sole selected bidder by April 1, 2007.

Global bidding: A total of 32 players — through Joint Ventures involving 126 companies — are in the final bid to develop the township. Apart from Mukesh and Anil Ambani, there are three players from Singapore, two from Holland and two from Malaysia, among others. Interestingly, bids have also come from seven players in Dubai, where 23 per cent of the world’s cranes and rigs are manufactured. Once the bidder is selected, individual companies will set up facilities in the township.

CITY LIGHTS

The Knowledge Hub City will be developed across eight villages — Byramangala, Bannigere, Hosur,

K G Gollarapalya, Kanchugaranahalli, Kanchugaranahalli Kaval, Allalasandra and Kempayyanapalya.

The existing population of these villages is around 12,000.

* 9,684 acres to house top-line R&D facilities

* Expected investment of Rs 50,000-crore

* Amenities include all round Wi-Max connectivity

* 32 global players in final bidding

* Tentative handover to bidder by April 1, 2007

* Marketing of township by private agency

*Project execution phase of three years

* Township designed to house 7.5 lakh people

* Rainwater harvesting mandatory

* Land price around Rs 2,000 per sq ft

*All images are artist’s impressions of the township

NEIGHBOURHOOD STORY

One of the five townships proposed in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region, Arkavathy Nagar in Ramanagaram will come up on 200 acres. Unlike Knowledge Hub City, this will be a full-fledged IT park on the lines of International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB), complete with a plug-and-play environment. The land acquisition process for the township is at present on.

WORK, LIVE, PLAY

Flanked by the Bidadi Auto Industrial Park and the proposed Harohalli Industrial Zone, the Knowledge Hub City is tipped to emerge as a critical pocket for knowledge-driven activities. To be designed as a self-contained habitat on work-live-play concept, the township will feature residential and

commercial amenities including schools, shopping malls, parks, bus stops, multiplexes and more. The indicative land use will be as follows:n Industrial: 25%

* Residential: 25%

*Parks & open spaces: 15%

* Civic Amenity space: 10%

* Others (roads, utilities etc): 25%

CONNECTING BANGALORE

* 35 km from Bangalore City

*Three km from State Highway (Bangalore-Mysore Road)

*15 km from NH-209

* Nine km from Bidadi Railway Station

* 45 km from the upcoming international airport in Devanahalli