The long-standing demand for Township Authority tag for Hebbal Industrial Area in Mysuru appears to have found favour with Minister for Large and Medium Industries Jagadish Shettar.
Participating in an interaction with industry bodies in Mysuru on Sunday, Mr. Shettar sought the status of the demand. When it was pointed out that the representation for according Township Authority status for Hebbal Industrial Area, which is spread across 650 acres in Mysuru, had already been submitted to the government, Mr. Shettar promised to include it in the list of proposed industrial townships he would be submitting to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa ahead of the State Budget. “I am always for industrial townships. I want to declare four or five industrial areas as townships,” he said.
As of now, Karnataka has only one industrial township authority — Electronics City in Bengaluru. Recently, Mr. Shettar said a delegation from Peenya Industrial Area in Bengaluru also had met him with a request for township status.
A township authority will have the powers of the municipality to raise revenue to ensure municipal services, including waste management, traffic regulation, and roads, besides granting building licence, trade licence, khata etc.
However, the township authority may have to share revenue with the city corporation under whose limits it falls.