Aditya Birla [Gulbarga] Group plans Rs 2,000-cr cement plant in Karnataka

Source: The Hindu

 

The Aditya Birla Group will invest Rs 2,000 cr in a 4 million tonne cement plant at Malkhed (in Gulbarga district), said the group's Chairman, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, at the Global Investors Meet in Bangalore on Thursday.

The Group also plans to expand its aluminium plant in Belgaum from 2,000 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes at Rs 700 crore.

[Bidar, Yadgir, Gulbarga] State highways in three divisions to be improved

Source: The Hindu

The State government has approved the improvement of State highways in Gulbarga, Yadgir and Bidar divisions of the Public Works Department in two phases at a cost of Rs. 295.05 crore.

Official sources told The Hindu here on Monday that under Phase I, the total cost of the projects approved was Rs. 156.12 crore and under Phase II, projects worth Rs. 138.93 crore had been approved.

The sources said that in Gulbarga division under Phase I, 206.28 km of State highways would be improved at a cost of Rs. 76.18 crore. This included improvement of Mahagoan-Sulepeth Road to a distance of 47.58 km, Chigaralli Cross-Sindagi State highway via Yedrami (52 km), Srirangapatna-Jewargi State highway (19 km), Mudhol-Yeragera State highway (24.50 km) and Aurad-Sadashivgad State highway (63.20 km).

In Yadgir division, under Phase I, 54.50 km of road would be improved at a cost of Rs. 17.51 crore, including 33.62 km of Mudhol-Yeragera State highway passing through Yadgir district and Basavakalyan-Raichur State highway to a distance of 20.88 km, passing through Yadgir district.

The sources said that in Bidar division, 186.21 km of State highways would be improved at a cost of Rs. 62.42 crore, including the Humnabad-Bidar State highway to a distance of 36.70 km, Wanmarpalli-Raichur State highway passing through Bidar to a distance of 80 km and of Aurad-Sadhashivgad State highway, passing through Bidar district, to a distance of 69.51 km.

Under Phase II, the State government has approved improving 191.19 km of State highways at a cost of Rs. 82.59 crore, including the Basavakalyan-Raichur State highway, passing through Gulbarga district, to a distance of 39.30 km; Bhalki-Chincholi State highway, passing through Gulbarga district, to a distance of 34.60 km; Shahpur-Shivarampur State highway to a distance of 57.63 km; and Shahpur-Shivarampur State highway to a distance of 59.66 km.

The sources said that in Yadgir district, 90.20 km of State highways would be improved at a cost of Rs. 36.45 crore, including the Srirangapatna-Jewargi State highway, passing through Yadgir district, to a distance of 57.30 km and the Sindagi-Kodangal State highway to a distance of 32.90 km.

In Bidar district, 57.40 km of State highways would be improved at a cost of Rs. 19.89 crore, including the Bhalki-Chincholi State highway to a distance of 24.40 km.

Works to be taken up at a cost of

Rs. 295.05 crore

In Bidar division, State highways to be improved at a cost of Rs. 62.42 crore

[Gulbarga] Centre sanctions Rs. 79 crore for Chowdapur-Afzalpur road

Source: The Hindu

The Union Government has approved the proposal to improve the Chowdapur-Afzalpur road to Maharashtra.

A sum of Rs. 79 crore from the Central Road Fund (CRF) has been sanctioned for this.

According to a communication from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, the State government has been asked to submit a detailed proposal on the work to be taken up.

Benefit for pilgrims

The Gulbarga-Afzalpur State Highway to the Maharashtra border was one of the worst stretches of the road. It has been a long-pending demand to develop the single-lane road to Deval Ganagapur, a major pilgrimage centre.

The highway was partly covered under the World Bank-aided Karnataka State Highway Improvement Programme (KSHIP) and a 23-km stretch from Gulbarga to Chowdapur was included under KSHIP II. However, a major part of the highway in Chowdapur and Afzalpur was not included.

The proposal to include the road from the Maharashtra border, through Afzalpur town to Chowdapur, under an initiative to develop inter-State connectivity, was first mooted by Union Minister of Labour and Employment M. Mallikarjun Kharge.

However, it did not materialise.

Meanwhile, the State government also approved a Rs. 66-crore proposal under the State Highway Development Project for developing the road. Before the final approval could be given, the Centre gave its green signal.

Gulbarga to host MSMI investors' meet on May 28

Source: The Hindu

MoUs worth Rs. 10,000 crore expected to be signed

Sharing information:Minister for Small-Scale Industries Narasimha Nayak addressing a press conference in Gulbarga on Sunday. Commissioner of the Industries Maheshwara Rao isseen.— Photo: Arun Kulkarni

The State government will host an investors' meet for micro-, small- and medium-scale industries (MSMI) in Gulbarga to explore the investment potential in Gulbarga Revenue division covering Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary, Bidar, Yadgir and Koppal district on May 28.

Briefing presspersons after chairing a preliminary meeting with representatives of trade and industry in Gulbarga on Sunday, Minister for Small-Scale Industries Narasimha Nayak and Commissioner of Industries Maheshwara Rao said Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda would inaugurate the investors' meet here on May 28. Minister for Major Industries Murugesh Nirani would also participate.

Mr. Nayak said he expected that at the meet, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) would be signed with potential investors for investments worth Rs. 10,000 crore in Gulbarga.

He said the investors' meet was part of the Global Investors' Meet (GIM) to be held in Bangalore on June 7 and 8. While the GIM in Bangalore would deal with investment in major industries, the investors' meet held at the divisional headquarters would tap potential investment in MSMIs.

Mr. Nayak said the investors' meets for MSMI held in other parts of Karnataka including Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum were an unprecedented success, with the government signing MoUs worth several thousand crores.

At the investors' meet held in Mysore on May 4, MoUs worth more than Rs. 10,000 crore were signed; at the meet held in Hubli in March, MoUs worth Rs. 4,800 crore were signed, and at the meets held in Belgaum and Mangalore, MoU's worth Rs. 2,000 crore and Rs. 1,500 crore respectively were signed.

To a question, Mr Nayak said that investment opportunities in MSMIs was very high in the state and it had remained untapped all these years and the investors meet had helped the state to tap this potential and create more employment avenues with the opening of new industries in the tier II cities.

Mr. Nayak said Gulbarga had good potential in the MSMI sector, and the State government was confident of inviting investors from the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh to invest in the pharmaceutical and other industrial hubs in the Gulbarga region.

The government would set up a common effluent plant in Yadgir for the proposed pharmaceutical hub in Yadgir district.

In Gulbarga, a jewellery park was proposed to be set up along with the textile park and other industries.

Gulbarga - Inter-State highway: 65 p.c. work completed

Source: The Hindu

Nearly 65 per cent of the upgrading of the 139-km long inter-State highway connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, passing through Gulbarga district, has been completed, according to sources.

The remaining portion is likely to be completed well before the deadline of December 2012.

The Government awarded the work on Build-Own-Operate-and Transfer (BOOT) model to a Hyderabad-based consortium for Rs. 240 crore.

Sixty-two per cent of the cost is being borne by the contractor, 20 per cent by the Union Government, and 18 per cent by the State Government.

Official sources told The Hindu that the Government and the consortium were in the final stages of reaching an agreement on toll rates for vehicles .

According to sources, the final black-topping has been completed up to 95 km of the total road length. As per the contractual agreement, the consortium would be allowed to own and operate the road for 28 years and the maintenance would be looked after by the contractor.

The work in the remaining length had been hastened along with the remodelling of small bridges. However, the Government had not cleared the proposal for construction of a new bridge across the Kagina near the Uttaridi Math in Malkhed. During monsoon, the bridge gets submerged and the traffic is disrupted.

Sharanprakash Patil, Sedam MLA, had proposed the construction of a new bridge across the river and Public Works Minister C.M. Udasi had given consent for that.

He asked the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL) to submit a proposal to the Government.

The KRDCL had proposed a new bridge costing Rs. 50 crore, but it has not been approved.

[Gulbarga] Phase I of IT park almost ready

Source: The Hindu


Works under this phase will be over in August; leading IT firms invited

Much-awaited:The establishment of the IT park will open employment avenues for engineering graduates of Gulbarga region.

The much-awaited information technology (IT) park that will provide employment opportunities for trained professionals in Gulbarga is in its final stages of completion. The first phase of the building, which will house offices, is coming up fast on the outskirts of Gulbarga on the ring road.

The Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (KEONICS), which was entrusted with the responsibility of establishing the IT park, decided to take up the work in three phases.

Budget

Official sources toldThe Hinduhere on Saturday that KEONICS had prepared an estimate of Rs. 26 crore to establish the IT park over 1.5 lakh sq.m.

In the first phase, it has proposed to set up infrastructure over 50,000 sq.m. at a cost of Rs. 10.57 crore.

The first phase of works, which began in October last year, is expected to be completed in August.As per the information available, many leading IT companies had been approached by the State Government and KEONICS to encourage them to establish units in Gulbarga and open employment avenues for trained professionals.

Gulbarga, which has at least four engineering colleges and two more in the offing, trains thousands of professionals every year, none of whom get a chance to work within the city. The establishment of the IT park would open avenues of employment to these professionals not only from Gulbarga but also from the neighbouring Bidar, Bijapur and Raichur districts.

Trial run conducted on new Bidar-Gulbarga railway line

Source: The Hindu

Get set, go: An engine leaves Khanapur junction near Bidar for the trial run on the new Khanapur-Humnabad line.

South Central Railway officials conducted a trial run on the newly-constructed Khanapur-Humnabad line on Monday.

This 38-km stretch has been completed in the first phase of the 108-km Bidar-Gulbarga railway line. “The work on the line is complete and it is ready for inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety,” S. Subramanya, Deputy Chief Engineer (Construction), South Central Railway, told presspersons at the Khanapur junction on Monday.

The Khanapur junction was being used for operations and track-changing. But it was not yet being used for passenger services. Mr. Subramanya said work on the Bidar-Gulbarga line had been divided into three parts. “The first phase of 38 km is complete. Earth work is complete in the second phase of 17 km and railway tracks are being laid. Of the 43 km in the third phase, earth work is under progress in the 10-km stretch between Gulbarga and Tajsultanpur,” he said.

Officials estimate the total line between Khanapur and Gulbarga will be completed by 2014. The total cost of the project is around Rs. 400 crore. Of this, Rs. 150 crore has been spent on the first phase.

Work on Gulbarga airport starts from April 1

Source: The Hindu

At long last: The airport will be constructed on 693 acres of land at Srinivas Saradgi village on the outskirts of Gulbarga. — FILE PHOTO

The construction of the much-delayed greenfield airport on the outskirts of Gulbarga is scheduled to take off on April 1.

The airport will be constructed on 693 acres of land at Srinivas Saradgi village.

Official sources told The Hindu here on Sunday that a high-level team from Gulbarga Airport Developers Ltd. (GADL), a conglomeration of financial companies and infrastructure developers who have been awarded the contract for construction, would arrive here soon to begin work on the runway and other infrastructure.

Within two years

In May 2010, the State Government inked a memorandum of understanding with GADL in this regard, with a condition to complete work within two years. A spokesperson of the GADL said the group was confident that they would complete the construction of all facilities within the stipulated period and introduce air services to the people here.

GADL has also assured the State that the runway will be complete by May 21.

According to sources in the State Government, once the runway is complete, a team from the Airports Authority of India would visit the site and give its final nod for the installation of infrastructure that would enable the landing and taking off of aircrafts.

GADL is also expected to start negotiations with air service operators when construction work takes off.

As per latest details available, the airport is likely to be made operational as soon as June 21 this year.

Remaining land

The initial proposal suggested that the airport would come up on 400 acres. GADL is yet to decide on how to use the remaining 293 acres available. The group plans to take up a feasibility study of the remaining land. There was also a proposal to increase the area for the airport by adding more facilities, sources said.

The Gulbarga airport would initially have a medium-sized runway of 1,550 m, which is sufficient to operate ATR 72 aircrafts. In the second phase, the runway length would be extended to 3,100 m, to enable larger aircrafts such as those from Airbus and 737s to land. The second phase will be taken up based on demand and the traffic situation after five years.

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Airport likely to be made operational by June 21

GADL yet to decide how to use remaining land

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[Gulbarga] Rs. 8.27 cr. released for 220 drinking water schemes in the 13th Plan

Source: The Hindu

Water Resources Minister and district in charge Basavaraj Bommai has said the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat had released Rs. 8.27 crore for 220 drinking water schemes in the 13th Plan.

Of this, the zilla panchayat will get Rs 1.18 crore, gram panchayats Rs. 4 crore and taluk panchayats Rs. 2.3 crore, Mr. Bommai said during the Karnataka Development Programme review meeting here on Wednesday.

He said that all panchayats should approve action plans by April 15. He lamented that 13 of the 90 works approved last year under the Calamity Relief Fund were yet to be completed. He asked officials to complete the works immediately.

He asked Gescom officials to provide power supply for drinking water schemes on priority. Mr. Bommai directed officials to provide water to villages on the banks of the Bheema by drawing water from the river. He promised to release funds for the project.

He asked ZP officials to release money to the taluk-level drinking water task force.

Mr. Bommai also asked panchayat development officers to pay surprise visits to sites where work on drinking water supply schemes was under way.

[Gulbarga] Infosys to take up sanitation project

Source: The Hindu

Infosys Foundation has evinced interest in constructing toilets in the houses of both below the poverty line (BPL) and above the poverty line (APL) families in rural areas in the Hyderabad Karnataka region to improve sanitation.

The foundation has been in touch with the officials of the zilla panchayat to work out details of funding the project and on how to get beneficiaries also involved. According to a note submitted by the foundation, the toilets would be different from those constructed earlier at a cost of Rs. 4,000 each. They would be strong and durable structures that would last at least 25 years. The design of the toilets includes a two-compartment plastered septic tank, a soak pit, 6-ft-high brick walls, an RCC roof, a ventilator and a metal door, costing around Rs. 18,000 in all. The foundation said that the existing toilets constructed under the Total Sanitation Campaign were primitive, and the pits designed for them were faulty as they got filled with water during the rainy season.

When contacted, Chief Executive Officer of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat Salma Fahim confirmed that the proposal had been received from Infosys Foundation, including a formula for meeting the expenditure. While the zilla panchayat would contribute Rs. 3,000 each for BPL families, APL families would have provide this amount. The beneficiaries would be provided bank loans of Rs. 7,000 each. The Krishna Grameena Bank had agreed to provide loans to one village on a pilot basis and later extend it to other villages.

Ms. Fahim said that the bank had also agreed to treat the release of Rs. 7,000 as a long-term loan so that the beneficiaries could repay it in five years at Rs. 140 a month. The remaining Rs. 8,000 would be borne by the foundation.

The foundation proposes to construct at least 10,000 toilets on a pilot basis in the villages selected by the administration in the Hyderabad Karnataka region.

Gulbarga fort to be restored

Source: The Hindu

Special Correspondent
The ASI has sanctioned Rs. 10 lakh for the project

State Government will restore one acre around the Ranamandal

ASI has been urged to release more funds



Regal:Regional Commissioner Rajneesh Goel atop the ‘Ranamandal' at the entrance of the Gulbarga fort.
GULBARGA: The 14th century Gulbarga fort, which remained untouched by rival forces in the times of Bahamani dynasty and other rulers, is all set to regain its lost glory with the Archaeological Survey of India and the State Government joining hands for its restoration and beautification.

The ASI had taken up restoration work on the majestic Jumma Masjid, a replica of the famed mosque in Cordoba city in Spain, standing tall inside the fort in the heart of Gulbarga city.

Now the ASI has entrusted the responsibility of restoring the one acre around the ‘Ranamandal', an imposing rock-solid fortification at the main entrance of the Gulbarga fort, to the State Government.

Regional Commissioner Rajneesh Goel who had taken special interest in restoration of the 14th century fort, told presspersons who visited the fort and Ranamandal area that the ASI has sanctioned Rs. 10 lakh for their restoration and beautification and fencing.

At the base of the imposing Ranamandal, a rose garden is being developed in a one-acre plot with a beautiful lawn and a walking track. “The main fortification of the Ranamandal has been left untouched and the restoration work will be taken up wherever required,” he said. The Ranamandal played an important role in defending the fort from enemy attacks with three cannons placed in vantage positions.

Funds

These cannons made of iron are still intact and, according to the records available, were manufactured by artisans at Lohar Galli in Gulbarga. Mr. Goel said that the ASI was being moved to release more funds to take up restoration of the remaining 3 acres around the Ranamandal to make it a tourism spot.

The fort, which has an outer wall and a moat all around, is one of the very few forts that had withstood the vagaries of weather espite very little being done to protect it.

1,800 km of roads in Hyderabad Karnataka region being developed

Source: The Hindu


GULBARGA: Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL) has taken up the development and upgrading of 1,800 km of roads under the Mega Road Development Programme in the Hyderabad Karnataka region.
Divisional Engineer of KRDCL Shashikant Warad told a meeting convened by the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board here on Thursday that the development of the road network was taken up by the government through public private participation.
Mr. Warad admitted that the Hyderabad Karnataka region lagged behind in terms of road development. In fact, it was ranked last in the State in terms of development of road network, he said.
Stressing the need for more investment, Mr. Warad said as per a World Bank report, each investment of Rs. 10 lakh in road development would help 163 below poverty line (BPL) families. With a view to develop link roads in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, the KRDCL had conducted a feasibility study and taken up work on 15 roads after calling for tenders. The 15 link roads include Tavargera-Kanakagiri-Gangavi (42.9 km), Tavaragera-Sindhanur (41.1 km), Kushtagi-Tavaragera (23.2 km), Mudgal-Tavaragera (31.3 km), Gangavati-Kampli-Kuditini (41 km), Tintini-Chinchodi-Jalhalli-Karegud-Deva durg (32.3 km), Devadurg-Masarkal-Gobbur-Kalmala, Talikot-Hunasagi-Devapur (48.6 km), Chowdapur-Gulbarga (32.7 km), Afzalpur-Chowdapur (22.3 km), Maharashtra border near Hosur to Afzalpur (44.3 km), Bidar-Ekhelli (28 km), Ekhelli-Chincholi (33.5 km), Mundargi-Hadagali (24 km) and H|adagali-Harapanalli (27.7 km).
Proposal
The meeting also decided to submit a proposal to the State Government on developing and upgrading the State highway linking Khajuri-Aland-Belamgi-VK Salagar-Mahagopan-Ratkal-Sulepet, Aland-Nimbarga-Deval Gangapur-Jeratigi, Basavakalyan-Mudabi-Mahagoan, Basavakalyan-Kohinoor-VK Salagar, Nalwar-Sannati-Shirwal-Bhimarayanagudi, and Gulbarga-Shahabad-Wadi-Yadgir-Saidapur-Devasugur

Affordable, quality education to soon be a reality in Gulbarga

Source: The Hindu 

Affordable quality education at state-of the-art schools will be a reality in Gulbarga district from the next academic year, thanks to an initiative by Everonn Education Ltd., which has revolutionised school education in rural areas.

The company which has extended online teaching of the CBSE syllabus to remote villages in the country, will now set set up model schools with state-of-the-art facilities in tier II cities.

Select cities

The Everonn-assisted KenBridge School will start functioning at Mayiladuthurai and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, Raipur in Madhya Pradesh, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and Gulbarga in Karnataka from the next academic year, starting in July 2011.

B.M. Bopanna, president and chief mentor of Everonn School Ltd., a subsidiary of Chennai-based Everonn Education Ltd, said that the KenBridge School would be different from conventional schools, with a motto to provide intensive, project-based, and career-oriented education.

Mr. Bopanna said that the key features of the school would be enquiry-based learning, co-curricular activities to develop the child's innate potential, continuous teacher empowerment and professional development programme and framing a curriculum that emphasised the development of intelligence of every child.

To a question, Mr. Bopanna said that it would be a day school to begin with.

After two or three years the question of starting a residential school would be considered.

Union Labour and Employment M. Mallikarjun Kharge will perform the ‘bhoomi puja' for the school on Shahabad Road on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday.

Industries to invest over Rs. 15,000 cr. in Gulbarga

 Source: The Hindu

Zawar, Rajashree, Lafarge among those planning to set up cement plants in the district
New projects expected to provide employment to many in the region

---

— File photo

Big plans:Vasavadatta Cement in Sedam taluk of Gulbarga district is one of the many companies seeking to expand existing plants. GULBARGA: Gulbarga district looks set to divest its tag as an industrially backward district with the setting up of at least 12 new industries and the expansion of existing cement plants, at a combined investment of Rs. 15,063 crore.
Official sources told The Hindu here on Sunday that apart from the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed during the Global Investors Meet in June this year, a few more industries have applied for licences to set up units in the district. They have also sought infrastructure facilities, including land, for the proposed projects.
Among the existing cement plants that have sought permission to expand their capacities are Zawar Cement Pvt. Ltd. in the industrial township of Shahabad and Rajashree Cement at Malkhed in Sedam taluk of Gulbarga district.
The Zawar plant has sought permission to increase the installed capacity of its Shahabad plant to 6 million tonnes per annum (MPTA) from the existing 0.5 MTPA, and to install a captive power generation plant of 70 MW. The company has also sought to convert the existing wet process technology to dry process technology at a cost of Rs. 3,180 crore.
Sources said the project would provide employment to an additional 4,050 persons, apart from its existing workforce of 570.
Meanwhile, the capacity of the Rajashree Cement plant would be enhanced from 4.2 MTPA to 8.45 MTPA, with a captive power generation plant of 185.5 MW also being installed. The total investment for this would be Rs. 3,000 crore.
While Zawar has sought an additional 472.18 acres for their expansion activities, Rajashree has sought 971.38 acres of land.
Besides, Lafarge India Pvt. Ltd. has decided to establish a cement plant with an initial capacity of 3 MPTA, and a 43-MW coal-based thermal plant to meet its power requirement in Chitapur taluk of Gulbarga district, at a cost of Rs. 1,500 crore. This unit will provide employment to 355 people.
The company has sought 601.12 acres of land for setting up the unit.
India Cements too has decided to establish a cement plant with an initial capacity of 2 MTPA, and a 60-MW thermal power plant at a cost of Rs. 850 crore in Chincholi taluk of the district. The company has been permitted to acquire 1,263.45 acres of land directly from the farmers for the project.
Shree Cements has decided establish a 3-MTPA cement plant at Sedam taluk, with a 35-MW captive power plant at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore.
Vasavadatta Cement in Sedam taluk has been permitted to take up expansion of its existing plant at a cost of Rs. 800 crore. Orient Cement too have expressed interest in establishing a unit in Chitapur taluk at a cost of Rs. 700 crore.
Besides, several entrepreneurs have proposed to establish other industries.

Integrated textile park in Gulbarga to be ready soon

 
Source: The Hindu

Discussing strategy:(From left) Mukta Nidhi Samnotra, Director, Ministry of Textiles; V. Srinivas, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles; and A.B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner; at a road show inBangalore on Friday.
Bangalore: The integrated textile park at Gulbarga “will soon be a reality”, a top official of the Union Ministry of Textiles said on Friday. Participating in a road show for the new Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP), Textile Commissioner A.B. Joshi said the park in Gulbarga was “at an advanced stage of development.” Officials in the Textile Ministry said similar parks were being considered at Shimoga, Tunkur and Bellary.
Mr. Joshi said Karnataka, which has a “strong and vibrant weaving tradition, had taken the initiative in promoting textiles”. He said apart from the garment-manufacturing cluster in Doddaballapur, a power loom cluster was also emerging in the State.
The new SITP scheme, which was launched recently, is aimed at providing a fillip to the industry so that it retains its global competitiveness, Mr. Joshi said. “The Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF), which has been in ‘ pause mode,' is likely to be resumed soon,” he remarked.
The Indian textile industry is the largest in the world in terms of loomage, Mr. Joshi pointed out. He said spun yarn output in the current year increased by 7.3 year over the previous year, and that cloth production increased by 2.1 per cent.
V. Srinivas, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, said the SITP, initiated in Public-Private Partnership mode, would enjoy Government support to the extent of 40 per cent of the project cost with a limit of Rs. 40 crore. The subsidy would not be available for land acquisition. The integrated parks would have facilities for cotton processing, ginning, weaving, fabric processing, garmenting and made-ups, Mr. Srinivas said.
Mukta Nidhi Samnotra, Director, Ministry of Textiles, participated in the road show.

Projects worth Rs. 2,673 crore cleared for Gulbarga division

Source: The Hindu
Cabinet clears proposals worth Rs. 4,643 crore throughout the State

The third Cabinet meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in the State in Gulbarga on Monday turned out to be a virtual bonanza with the Government clearing a total projected investment of Rs. 2,673.96 crore for various development activities and infrastructure development in the six districts of the Gulbarga Revenue Division.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who addressed presspersons after the meeting, said the Cabinet gave its approval to proposals worth Rs 4,643.80 crore to implement 55 programmes and projects throughout the State. Of this, projects worth Rs. 2,673.96 crore have been approved in the Gulbarga Revenue division comprising the districts of Gulbarga, Bellary, Bidar, Raichur, Bidar and Koppal.

Prominent projects in the Hyderabad Karnataka region that have been cleared include the post-facto approval for the super-speciality hospital of the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in Bellary at a cost of Rs. 80 crore and a regional super-speciality hospital in Gulbarga city under the Private Public Participation (PPP) model.

The Chief Minister announced that an agricultural college would be established at the Agriculture Research Station in Gulbarga from the next academic year. The Cabinet also cleared a special package of Rs. 50 crore for improving basic infrastructure facilities and to increase the educational facilities at VIMS, Bellary.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Cabinet gave its approval to release Rs. 920 crore as the State Government's equity of the project cost of Rs 2,123 crore for the second stage of the Niranthara Jyoti Scheme. The 40 per cent of the project cost was the State equity and the remaining amount would be raised through loans to improve power supply system in rural areas and provide 24-hour electricity to villages.

He said administrative approval had been given for taking up 30 projects at a cost of Rs. 553.423 crore under the centrally sponsored NRDWP to provide safe drinking water supply to needy villages in 13 districts in the State. The Cabinet also cleared a drinking water supply scheme worth Rs 7.86 crore to benefit 20 villages in Bellary district.

The Cabinet, besides giving approval for various road development works worth Rs 166.50 crore in Gulbarga district, gave administrative approval for taking up development works amounting to Rs. 146.58 crore in Yadgir district by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. It also approved a project to fill 10 tanks in Huvina Hadagali taluk in Bellary district at a cost of Rs. 76.70 crore. Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Cabinet also gave approval to set up a zoo at Hampi in Bellary district at a cost of Rs. 67 crore and Rs. 20 crore would be released during the current year for the purpose.

The Cabinet gave its formal approval for constructing two blocks of 50,000 square feet each Information Technology Park in Gulbarga city and Rs. 21 crore has been released for the purpose. It also gave its approval for releasing Rs. 81 crore to develop 2,400 acres of land for industrial purpose in Gulbarga division.

Cabinet meeting in Gulbarga

Source: The Hindu

The Cabinet meeting that will be held here on Monday for the third time, is likely to sanction Rs. 300 crore for the development of Yadgir district.

[Gulbarga] Work on inter-State highway to start today

Source: The Hindu

Road connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, via Gulbarga district to be upgraded

Ready for a facelift: The damaged inter-State highway that passes through Gulbarga district.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will set in motion the upgrading of the inter-State highway connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, via Gulbarga district, when he lays the foundation stone for the Rs. 240-crore project on Monday.

The highway will cover a distance of 139 km from Waghdhari in Maharashtra to Ripponpalli in Andhra Pradesh. Passing through Sedam, Gulbarga and Afzalpur taluks in Gulbarga district, it is considered an economically important road that will cut down the cost of cement transportation between the States.

Owing to the bad condition of the road, especially in the Gulbarga stretch, the three main cement producers here — Rajashree Cements, ACC Cements Ltd., and Vasavadatta Cements — have to take circuitous routes to transport the material, adding to the cost of the cement when it finally reaches the consumers.

Sedam MLA Sharanprakash Patil has been pushing for the project to be taken up under the public-private participation (PPP) model on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis for over eight years. Now, his efforts have paid off with the Government awarding the work to a Hyderabad-based consortium CVR to complete within two years.

According to information available with The Hindu, the financial arrangements are being finalised and the consortium has started the spade work for construction.

A full-fledged camp office has been set up at Ripponpalli in Andhra Pradesh and a hot mixing plant and quarry has been installed near the town.

Dr. Patil said the consortium had set up four separate teams to take up the upgrading work simultaneously to hasten the process. Work will be taken up from Gulbarga towards Ripponpalli, Ripponpalli to Gulbarga, Waghdhari to Gulbarga and Gulbarga to Waghdhari.

Other projects

Apart from this, the Union Government has also sanctioned Rs. 150 crore for the upgrading of two important roads in Gulbarga district under the Central Road Fund (CRF).

These are the Sedam-Yadgir Road, being upgraded at a cost of Rs. 67 crore, and the road from Hire Mannur on the borders of Maharashtra to Afzalpur town, at a cost of Rs. 82 crore.

According to information available here, both projects will be monitored at the implementation stage by the National Highway Authority of India.

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B.S. Yeddyurappa to lay the foundation stone for the Rs. 240-crore project

Hyderabad-based consortium to complete the work within two years

100-crore revamp for six heritage cities - Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur & kittur among them

Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/100-crore-revamp-for-six-heritage-cities/211143.html


BANGALORE: The state government will spend Rs100 crore over the next three years to develop six cities that have been identified as important from the heritage point of view.Kannada and Culture Minister Govind Karjol disclosed this on Wednesday. The cities where basic infrastructure will be developed are Gulbarga, Bidar, Srirangapatna, Bijapur, Kittur and Mysore.Karjol said the blueprint and action plan to develop the cities are ready. The cities would get drinking water facilities, approach roads, interior roads, toilets, parking lots, hotels and rest houses of international standards. The work would start in the beginning of financial year 2011. The gazetteer directorate had undertaken the task of computerising more than five lakh historically important documents, he said, adding that the documents include Tipu Sultan’s correspondence with the British. The project would cost `80 lakh. He said Hampi Development Authority's rules and guidelines will be framed in the next Assembly session.