Mangaluru: While small and medium entrepreneurs in Baikampady Industrial Area off Mangaluru city are eagerly expecting breather with the imminent formation of the Baikampady Industrial Town Authority, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) is likely to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for ceding the industrial area from its jurisdiction to the proposed authority.

The prospects of formation of an industrial town authority in Mangaluru, on the lines of Bengaluru’s Electronics City Industrial Town Authority, has triggered hopes among the industrialists of the region who have been fighting all the odds for over four decades since the formation of the Baikampady Industrial Area.

The topmost priority of the authority will be to strengthen the crumbling infrastructure, according to the Kanara Small Industries Association (KSIA), the umbrella organisation of industries in Baikampady, which has to pilot the authority. In anticipation of the NOC from MCC, the association is working on a detailed proposal to the government clearly demarcating the geographical area, facilities to be provided and such other details, said association vice-president Gaurav Hegde.

He told that the entrepreneurs were fed up with awful infrastructure — roads, drainages, streetlight etc. MCC did not bother much about improving the facilities since there were very few voters and the civic body did not get complete jurisdiction of the industrial area. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, that formed the area, too is unable to improve the infrastructure. Hence, the authority is the only hope for industrialists, he said.

The authority will have 10 members initially nominated by the government for three years comprising five representatives from the government and five from industries. It will also have an administrative section headed by a chief executive officer for the effective functioning. Property tax collection and providing services will be the main mandate for the authority.

N. Gokuldas Nayak, MCC Deputy Commissioner and Joint Director, Department of Industries, said the issue of NOC is a matter of procedure. Normally any local body hesitates to part with its lands for fear of losing revenue. However, MCC will get 30 per cent of property tax from the authority towards access to external civic infrastructure. Mr. Nayak said an authority could get funds from the government for specific purposes apart from own sources of revenue to facilitate infrastructure augmentation.

Though the Baikampady Industrial Area is spread over about 2,700 acres, only about 50 acres is said to be under the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC).

As a result, the city corporation too is not getting adequate revenue from the region even as many owners of industries voluntarily decided to pay taxes to the civic body, according to Kanara Small Industries Association vice-president Gaurav Hegde. Since the industrial area has very few voters, it is but natural that it lacks attention from the elected representatives.

The advent of industrialisation and construction of the New Mangalore Port has completely changed the outlook of the suburbs of Mangaluru. The entire Panambur, Baikampady, Surathkal and interior villages in the region were once abundant with lush paddy fields and coconut gardens on the one hand and fishing settlements on the coast. However, formation of the Baikampady Industrial Area and the port gradually changed the outlook of the region. The leftover agricultural lands in the region came under industrialisation after the setting up of the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd., and the Mangalore Special Economic Zone.