Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers H.N. Ananth Kumar said here on Friday that the Union government is ready to open two more units of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Karnataka. He also said that the units can be materialised only if the State government allot land.
Addressing media Mr. Kumar said that the Centre is ready to sanction the units to Mangaluru and Bengaluru in addition to the existing one at Mysuru.
He also said, the country is producing only 43,000 skilled persons in plastics engineering and technology against the current demand for about four lakh skilled persons. If two more units were opened they could offer undergraduate, post-graduate courses and enrol candidates for research.
“The State has not yet responded to the Union government’s interest to this effect,” he added.
The minister said that of Rs. 21,000 crore sanctioned to the State from the Centre under various schemes in 2014-15, Karnataka has utilised only half of it. The Chief Minister Siddaramiah should come out why the State has not been able to utilise half of the funds sanctioned.
He reiterated that the State has not yet responded to grant 500 acres to his ministry to start a fertiliser factory in Karnataka. The State was also not interested to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union government in connection with selling generic medicine in district hospitals 30 per cent below the market rate, he alleged.
