The proposed export centre at the industrial area in Hebbal has been plagued by delay and is only now inching towards the construction stage with stakeholders submitting the detailed project report (DPR) and the final estimates to the government for its final approval.
This comes more than two years after its foundation stone was laid while the project itself was originally mooted in 2008. Though the State government has already released its contribution of Rs. 4 crore, the DPR and actual estimates were finalised and submitted only last week.
However, the General Secretary of the Mysore Industries Association (MIA) Suresh Kumar Jain told The Hindu that the MoU for deposit contribution by the members has been signed, the consultants to the project have also been fixed and the work was expected to commence soon. The centre is the first of its kind in the State and is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 8.7 crore as per the revised estimates and will benefit local industries, he added. The project is coming up with funding from the Centre, which has released Rs. 3 crore, besides the State, which has chipped in Rs. 4 crore, while the balance amount will be raised by the stakeholders in the industrial sector.
The project is expected to be ready for functioning in two years and will benefit the local industries engaged in the export business. There are nearly 150 units in the Mysuru region engaged in exports and the new centre will serve as a one-stop facility to complete the export formalities.
Besides, engineering and manufacturing, food processing units are also engaged in export, according to the stakeholders.
It will have a display centre, facilities with state-of-the-art machinery for testing the final product, apart from incubation centres. A conference hall for business meetings, a video conferencing hall and export certification facilities are also proposed to be established at the centre. This will also compliment the proposed inland container yard to be established by the Container Corporation of India (Concor) at Nanjangud which will take care of the transportation and shipment.
It is estimated that the export turnover from the region comprising Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru is about Rs. 8,000 crore and is expected to increase once the facility is in place, according to MIA.
