The Hindu Business Line : SPV for Mangalore SEZ project by Jan 15

The Karnataka Minister for Finance and Industries, Mr P.G.R. Sindhia, revealed this at a press conference here on Thursday. The Minister said that he had held discussions with the officials of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in this regard last week. ONGC, which is the major investor, will invest around Rs 26,000 crore in various petrochemical-related projects in the Mangalore SEZ.

Stating that the works related to the SPV formation are in the final stages, he said, "SPV for the implementation of Mangalore SEZ project will be formed by January15."

On the progress in the formation of IT (information technology) SEZ in Mangalore, he said that the Centre has given `in-principle' approval for this. The process of land acquisition is on in this matter, he said.

Kudremukh: Asked about the fate of the employees of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) after the closure of mining operations at Kudremukh, he said the Supreme Court's order on closing down mining operations at Kudremukh by December 31, would be followed. However, the State Cabinet would discuss this issue in the next meeting.

SSI subsidy: To a query on the delay in the release of subsidy to small-scale industrial (SSI) units in the State, Mr Sindhia said that Rs 380 crore of subsidy to SSI units was pending from 1999 to 2004. The present coalition government in Karnataka has released Rs 180 crore so far. Of this amount, the last instalment of Rs 15 crore was released only last week. This amount will be disbursed by February 15. The remaining amount will be released in the next financial year, he said.

Investment meets: The Government is planning to organise district-level investors' meetings in the State. The Government will hold first such meet in Mysore on January 20 and 21. Various other districts will also host such meetings in the coming months, the Minister said.

On upgrading airport in Mangalore, he said the State Government has asked the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, to provide customs and immigration facilities at the Mangalore airport.

Earlier, Mr Sindhia inspected the progress of Finance, Industries, Infrastructure and Planning departments in the district.