Industrial policy moots plug & play factories

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s new industrial policy, while reiterating decades-old ambition of taking industries to tier-2 and tier-3 cities and enhancing ease of doing business, is mooting ready-to-use industrial parks developed by private builders.
The policy is most likely to be placed before the cabinet for approval on Thursday, industries minister Jagadish Shettar told TOI.
“We’re looking at introducing plug and play factories at industrial parks, which will be developed by private builders. There will be different models. We’ll disclose more details once the cabinet accords its approval,” Shettar said.
Officials said this will allow industries to reduce the turnaround time and expedite production. These will be specific for manufacturing industries, the official said, adding that an entrepreneur will be able to just occupy a space that has been specifically designed for manufacturing.
Gaurav Gupta, principal secretary, industries department, had earlier told TOI that these pre-constructed factories with all necessary infrastructure, will be offered on lease which will reduce the upfront investments by industries.
“There will be special focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities. We need to take industries beyond Bengaluru and this policy will do more than ever before on this front. There will be special customised incentives that will be provided to industries and we have focussed on various factors of production,” Shettar added.
Karnataka’s focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities is not unique. This has been on the industries department’s agenda for more decades, but most industries still prefer areas in and around Bengaluru or other big cities like Mysuru and Mangaluru.
CR Janardhan, president, FKCCI, said: “Earlier, the problem was lack of connectivity. But now with good connectivity — both physical and in terms of communication and internet — districts will see more industries, as land and labour will be cheaper there.”
He said the new policy, as per what the government had discussed with the industry bodies, will also look at granting industrial township status to at least five industrial estates. “This has been a long-standing demand and we’ve been given to understand that it will be in the policy, we’ll have to wait and see,” he added.