BBMP moves in on Electronic City

BBMP moves in on Electronic City
Wants To Bring Industrial Area Under Its Jurisdiction To Earn More Revenue
S Kushala and R Jayaprakash | TNN

Bangalore: The Electronic City, a self-sustained in dustrial area on the outskirts, could soon be a part of Bangalore.
For those who thought it was part of the IT city here’s the shocker: it’s not, at least for administra tive purposes. Even when the government brought in additional 515 sqkm of area around the city un der the Greater Bangalore umbrella, Electronic City was left out. The BBMP is now trying to include it to earn greater revenue, which run into crores of rupees. Electronic City falls under Doddathoguru and Konappana Agrahara gram panchayats and is managed and maintained by the Electronics City Industries’ Association (ELCIA). Electronic City (EC) has 190 industrial/IT units, 1.1 million sqft of built-up area and is spread over 442.2 acres of land
The BBMP recently placed a proposal before the government to bring EC under its jurisdiction, but ELCIA is not keen. It hopes the Industrial Township Act, which provides autonomy to the association will continue to give it relief. If it comes under the BBMP, tax collections from the area will go up to Rs 60 crore, but will be maintained by the Nagarapa like.
BBMP officials said: “The tax these industries pay is abysmal. One company pays Rs 6 lakh, while another IT major pays just around Rs 8 lakh annu ally. This sector cries hoarse about crumbling in frastructure, but their contribution to the city man agers is zero. They should be brought under the BBMP and be treated on a par with other tax-pay ers.’’ Until two years ago, ELCIA paid a property tax of 35 paise per sqft to the gram panchayats. Last year, the panchayats sought Rs 1.8/sqft, but the as sociation refused, arguing that the panchayats do not maintain the area.
The ELCIA collects 30 paise/sqft as annual maintenance charge for upkeep of the area and another Rs 10 per month per employee from the companies. The collections total to Rs 2 crore. The ELCIA looks after the maintenance, water supply, solid waste management, street-lighting, landscaping, security and road safety.
“The society takes care of all the needs. We have a fire station, a hospital and various services. Though we are a society, it’s like running a township,’’ said ELCIA joint director Bevin K Thomas.
Industrial status pending
The demand by Electronic City for industrial township status is pending before the government. Former president of ELCIA and spokesperson, Prakash Rao, said the state formulated the Industrial Township Act during the Congress regime, which gave autonomy to industrial areas, excluding them from the jurisdiction of local bodies and planning authorities. But certain issues that had to be ironed out delayed the Bill’s enactment and the township status was put on the backburner.
On the BBMP’s move to take over Electronic City, he said: “This is news. On the one hand, we are hopeful that we will get autonomy, on the other the BBMP has this proposal. We have maintained the park so well and have done a grand job.’’