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The Kanara Small Industries Association (KSIA) at Baikampady in Mangaluru has requested the Karnataka government to form Baikampady Industrial Township Authority (BITA) for the better governance of the industrial area.
Issac Vas, Secretary of KSIA, told BusinessLine that the Karnataka government had announched plans to set up eight industrial township authorities in the State, and Baikampady was one among them. One such industrial township authority has already been formed in Bengaluru.
Seeks notification
KSIA has submitted its application with the Karnataka Industries Department to notify Baikampady as an industrial township authority. Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has already given no-objection certificate for the formation of such an authority, he said.
Karnataka Industries Minister KJ George, who was in Mangaluru recently, has given a positive assurance on the formation of such an authority at Baikampady, he said.
The proposed authority will be an independent civic body that takes care of collection of taxes and development works in the industrial area. It will have representatives from the government and industries, Vas said. In the meantime, KSIA has proposed to the government for the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for industrial area at Baikampady under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner of the district. The proposed SPV will look into the maintenance of roads, water supply, waste water drains, street lights etc until the formation of Baikampady Industrial Area Authority (BITA).
Though the proposed SPV may not have powers to collect taxes, it could become an alternative system of governance till the formation of BITA. He said SPV will help during the transition period to BITA, and will help provide first hand information of governance to the stakeholders in the SPV.
Flooding
It may be mentioned here that Baikampady industrial area had faced three major flooding incidents this year causing damage to the machinery, raw materials, finished goods, and infrastructure in the area. KSIA had estimated a loss of around ₹10 crore for the industries in the area due to these floods.
KSIA, which has around 650 units, provides employment to around 20,000 people in the region.
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