Bengaluru: A delay in notifying a special investment zone in Bengaluru’s outer periphery has led to a local administrative body in Karnataka’s Devanahalli issuing a notice to Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn.
The Koira grama panchayat had issued notice to Foxconn, the manufacturers of iPhones, demanding unpaid dues as well as demands to hire locals in its plants.“Foxconn was under the panchayats before the SIR (Special Investment Region) Act came into play (in 2023). Grama Panchayats issued a tax (notice) after SIR,” Karnataka Industries Minister M.B.Patil told reporters Tuesday.
He termed it as a “small issue” as the local block development officer of the grama panchayat “did not know” about the Act. As a result, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) will collect property taxes from this Special Investment Region.
Patil said that the grama panchayat will get 30 percent of the revenues collected while the remaining 70 percent will be spent on the industrial area itself.
On complaints about local residents not being hired by the company, Patil dismissed the claims. “They have almost employed 30,000 people and 80 percent are women,” he said, adding that employment will depend on the skill of the candidates.
A senior official from the Karnataka industries department said that the Act was notified just a month ago, fuelling the confusion.
The friction between the local administration and the manufacturing giant threatens to strain Karnataka’s ‘investor friendly’ tag. The Karnataka government had cleared the Foxconn investment after two meetings in March 2023.
As part of this deal, 300 acres of land from the KIADB in Devanahalli General Industrial Area (ITIR) comes under Doddaballapura & Devanahalli Taluk in Bengaluru Rural District.
“Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development Private Limited (FHH) has proposed to establish ‘Manufacturing of Mobile Phones’ plant, with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore, generating employment to about 50,000 persons…,” according to a government notification at the time.
The investment size has since grown to around Rs 25,000 crore.
However, the locals are not convinced about the government’s response. “We have sent many letters and had two meetings as well, till date they have not offered even one job. No locals have been given jobs here. They say that (our) candidates failed in the interviews and are employing people from other places. We, the people of the taluk, are planning to intensify protests,” according to a grama panchayat member.
The grama panchayat had sent notices to Foxconn, demanding payment of Rs 5 crore in unpaid taxes by 7 February. “If nothing happens by then, all the people from the taluka, surrounding regions, will get together and intensify protests.”
In July last, the Siddaramaiah government had to let go of its plans to acquire 1,777 acres of land for a proposed aerospace park in Devanahalli after mass protests by farmer groups. This was seen as a victory by farming groups who have resisted acquisition of lands, especially fertile ones, for industrial purposes.
Most investors are keen on land in Bengaluru to benefit from the ecosystem of IT corridors, startups, MNC and other companies, widening the regional imbalance in Karnataka. Successive governments have tried to convince investors to go ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ with little success. As a middle ground, KIADB has been acquiring land in the outer periphery of Bengaluru where farming communities have been uprooted and making way for industries to be set up.
In February last year, a string of intense protests by religious seers and politicians, including from members of the ruling Congress party, over a proposed steel plant in Koppal has threatened to cut short the success of the Global Investors Meet (GIM).
The protests were targeted against the Rs 54,000 crore investment signed by Mumbai-headquartered mining major Baldota Group, to set up a 10.5 mtpa steel plant in Koppala, about 351 km from Bengaluru.
The agitators have said that the plant is likely to pollute the fragile ecosystem of the region, which has already seen years of unregulated industrial activities that have done irreparable damage.
The agitation has left the Siddaramaiah government red-faced since Baldota was among the first to sign an MoU ahead of the GIM and among the biggest. In Honnavara, fisherfolk have intensified protests against the geological survey for a proposed greenfield commercial post in Karnataka’s coast, threatening to further dent investor interests and adding to Siddaramaiah’s problems.
(Edited by Tony Rai)