Lack of accessibility, particularly air connectivity, continues to be a major obstacle for industrialisation in Kalaburagi district. This remains the main reason for industrialists, who showed interest during the 2010 and 2014 Global Investors’ Meets, to back out.
Of 130 memoranda of understanding signed during the two previous GIMs, only 30 units have come up in the district. Of them, only one unit had an investment of more than Rs. 3 crore. The total employment generated in all these units was 280.
There is a glimmer hope now, with the government promising to complete the airport and establish the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in the district. The government has identified 12,000 acres of land in Chitapur taluk of the district with close proximity to the proposed airport and connectivity to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
Everything now depends on when the State government would release Rs. 2,500 crore for acquisition of land to start the NIMZ, which provides five-year tax holiday to investors and huge incentives.
