Karnataka plans to develop exclusive defence manufacturing industrial estate through public private partnership (PPP) route.
The industrial estate is to be developed as an ancillary hub for defence manufacturing in the State.
Karnataka State Small Industries Corporation (KSSIDC) at the Global Investors Meet (GIM) said the industrial estate would come up at Challekere taluk in Chitradurga district.
The land identified is close to the proposed facilities of the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Bhaba Atomic Research (BARC).
A senior KSSIDC official said, “The project is to be developed through a special purpose company on 74:26 bases. KSSIDC is the strategic stakeholder with 26 per cent by providing land and the balance by the private partner.”
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 50 crore based on the land use and infrastructure facilities.
As per the preliminary assessment, viability gap funding support to the project and equity internal rate of return (IRR) is in the range of 14 to 17 per cent.
“We are looking at a private partner who can help build industrial sheds and industrial plots and connect it to the national highway. The estate is being integrated with research and development units and also build integrated township. At the GIM we have got a few proposals and we need to evaluate them,” he added.
The State government is targeting Tumkur and Bellary districts for setting up manufacturing units under national manufacturing policy. The official said it is proposed to develop Tumkur and Vijayanagar area development authority area in Bellary as an NIMZ.