The government has dusted off several old big-ticket infrastructure projects to be showcased at its flagship Invest Karnataka summit this November, which is being held after a gap of six years.
In Bengaluru Urban district, the government has lined up projects costing Rs 24,452 crore as investment opportunities.
They include the peripheral ring road (Rs 11,950 crore), light rail transit system (Rs 10,875 crore), Disneyland (Rs 100 crore), a cruise dinner project at Ulsoor lake (Rs 40 crore), among others.
Several of these projects were showcased at the last Invest Karnataka summit held in 2016 and have been languishing even before that.
The peripheral ring road project, for example, is nearly two decades old.
The light rail transit was first proposed in 2010 and remains on paper. Like Disneyland, the Lego theme park (Rs 62 crore) and a snow park (Rs 43 crore) were talked about in 2015.
The cruise dinner or floating restaurant idea at Ulsoor lake was announced in the 2015-16 budget.
Apart from these, the government has listed the development of multiple transport and transit management centres (TTMCs), parking management system, multi-level car parking lots, construction of skywalks, bus shelters, waste-to-energy plants, development of animation, visual effects, gaming & comics (AVGC) lab, Digital Media City and international aerospace museum at Jakkur as investment opportunities.
“We have to keep projects ready,” IT/BT Minister C Ashwath Narayan told DH, defending the inclusion of old projects in the upcoming Invest Karnataka summit.
“While most investors come with their own ideas, some will ask for investment options. The projects may be old, but there will be investors if they are viable.”
The government has prepared a profile of every district, listing out various investment opportunities that are available.
For example, Chikkaballapur district will be showcased as 'the next Greater Bengaluru,' with mega cattle feed manufacturing plants costing Rs 600 crore being a top investment option.
In Ramanagar district, billed as “a hotspot for investment,” an integrated township in Bidadi worth Rs 30,000 crore will be a major attraction.
Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani told DH in a statement that he was optimistic of Karnataka attracting huge investments during the November summit.
'Beyond the capital'
"In and around Bengaluru, investment opportunities will be made available depending on land. But as a policy, we're encouraging companies to go beyond Bengaluru," he said.
The minister also expressed confidence of keeping a land bank of 50,000 acres ready for the summit.