Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (Keonics), a State government undertaking, has drawn up plans to develop a medium size Information Technology Park on its land in Mangaluru with a view to generating more employment for the youth in the coastal region. The Board of Directors took the decision to develop the IT Park on the 3.75 acres of land in Kuntikana-Derebail in its recent meeting, Keonics Chairman Harikrishna Bantwal told The Hindu.
It would be a public-private partnership initiative with the participation of Mangaluru Smart City Ltd. (MSCL) and supported by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India and the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said.
Mr. Bantwal said that he recently held discussions with the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada about the modalities to take forward the proposal. Keonics seeks to develop IT infrastructure in Tier 2 cities such as Mangaluru thereby reducing the burden on Bengaluru.
The proposal was to invest ₹ 30 crore from the State government and another ₹ 30 crore from MSCL.
Having about 2 lakh sq ft floor space, the park would provide space mainly for Electronics System Design Manufacturing, Biotechnology and other initiatives. It would also provide space for incubation centres for start-ups with 340 seats as well as IT and IT-enabled services.
There would be two blocks of nine floors each at the proposed IT Park, detailed project report of which was prepared by the IDFC.
Kanara Chamber president Issac Vas had in December last written to Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, in-charge of IT and BT departments, to help set up an IT Park in Mangaluru that has an abundant talent pool.
The region with over 20 engineering colleges and over 100 non-engineering colleges produces thousands of graduates every year.
The space earmarked for Keonics at Kuntikana-Derebail was best suited to develop the IT Park, Mr. Vas said and added that it was also located adjacent to the Software Technology Park of India.
KCCI’s initiative — Centre for entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning — supported by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too was functioning close to its capacity, he had said. Companies incubated for 18 months in this centre have to move out; but no commercial space was available in Mangaluru for them.
