Barely a year after granting ‘Industrial Township’ status to Peenya Industrial Area by declaring it a special investment region, the govt has withdrawn the decision.
BENGALURU
In a notification issued by the Urban Development department said, the proposal announced earlier by the commerce and industries department to notify Peenya as a special investment region and transfer its administration to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) cannot be implemented.The govt stated that the Peenya Industrial Area already falls within the jurisdiction of corporation limits. Hence, the area cannot be brought under KIADB or any other authority by taking it out of the civic administration framework. The rollback is seen as a setback to efforts aimed at creating a dedicated industrial township for one of Asia’s largest industrial clusters, which continues to face major civic infrastructure issues, including poor roads, drainage and waste management problems. The notification stated apart from Peenya, 17 other special investment regions announced by the Industries Department will continue to be governed under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act-2024, the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act-1976, and the Karnataka Municipalities Act-1964.
The respective local bodies and municipal corporations will continue to exercise administrative powers in these areas, including levy and collection of property taxes and other civic responsibilities.
R Shiva Kumar, former President of the Peenya Industries Association, said the government’s decision to declare Peenya as a special investment region had brought no change on the ground for industries in the area. The government had promised formation of a 15-member committee, but industries were given representation only through two members while the majority were govt officials. Even that committee was never formed, he said. He alleged that though KIADB has been collecting taxes, there is no clarity on how the funds are being utilised or any concrete plan for infrastructure improvement.
Criticising the poor condition of roads in the industrial hub, he said infrastructure remains neglected despite its economic importance. Peenya industries are located close to the national highway, but even village roads are in better condition than roads here,” he claimed.There was hope for an industrial township authority on the lines of the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA), but that model never materialised. On the latest proposal to bring Peenya under the Greater Bengaluru Authority framework, Shiva Kumar said industry representatives are yet to receive clarity from the government.
