The government will pump in Rs 500 crore this year and Rs 2,000 crore next year towards establishment of industrial clusters across nine districts under the ambitious ‘Compete with China’ scheme, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday.
Kumaraswamy held talks with members from six of the nine vision groups that have been formed to help the government set up the clusters. All the nine groups - one for each of the proposed clusters - comprise industry leaders and experts.
In his July 5 budget, Kumaraswamy announced the following industrial clusters in nine districts: solar power goods manufacturing at Kalaburagi, LED lights manufacturing at Chitradurga, sanitary goods manufacturing at Hassan, mechanised toys at Koppal, ICB/chip manufacturing at Mysuru, textiles at Ballari, mobile phone components at Chikkaballapur, sports/fitness goods at Tumakuru and agricultural implements at Bidar.
“The government wants to promote industrial activity in Tier-2 cities so as to create jobs in rural areas. On this front, the government will provide all the support,” Kumaraswamy said.
Vision groups for Koppal, Ballari, Mysuru, Chikkaballapur, Kalaburagi and Chitradurga promised the chief minister about preparing detailed reports on what needed to be done for setting up the industrial clusters.