INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PARK PROPOSED TO BE SET UP IN HARIHAR

H.S. Narasimha Kumar, Davangere (Karnataka)
The Hindu

An IT (information technology) park is proposed to be set up on the Mysore Kirloskar Factory premises in Harihar and senior officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Davangere K. Amaranarayana and Harihar MLA Harish visited the factory premises recently. They have decided to send a recommendation to the Government proposing the area as ideal for establishing the IT Park.

The Government has plans to set up IT Parks in almost all districts, particularly those where a large number of engineering colleges are situated. It has sent a circular to all the district administrations to select an ideal location of over 100 acres for the proposed IT parks. The Government has, in its circular, instructed the district administrations to identify at least 10 to 15 acres of lands so that the IT Parks are started.

Amaranarayana told The Hindu that Mysore Kirloskar Factory had a sprawling area of 197 acres. He noted that the factory had an abundant source of water as it was situated near the banks of the Tungabhadra. Apart from this, there was a helipad constructed and maintained by Harihar Polyfibres. Harihar was well connected by road and rail.

Amaranarayana said that the Kirloskar factory premises was just like the IISc campus in Bangalore and all facilities needed for an IT park were available. He said that not much investment was needed to establish basic facilities for the IT Park. Hence, the district administration had decided to recommend the place for setting up the IT park. He said that there would be a spurt of economic activities again in Harihar town which was hard hit after the closure of the Kirloskar factory. He also expressed concern that repeated efforts to re-start the Kirloskar factory had not yielded results.

Director of Information and Technology and Biotechnology Aravind Jannu has instructed the district administration to identify land to establish the IT Park, Amaranarayana said and noted that the district administration was looking for three places, including the Kirloskar factory, for the proposed IT Park. He said that as there were many engineering colleges in Davangere and surrounding places, the proposed IT park would be a boon to budding engineers.