State to set up Foundry Cluster

BANGALORE: In an effort to promote Foundry industry in Karnataka, which has one of the largest deposits of iron ore in the country, the state government will set up a ‘Foundry Cluster’ at Dobbspet, 50 km from Bangalore, over the next six months.Murugesh R Nirani, Minister for Industries revealed the state government’s plan to set up the ‘Foundry Cluster’ in Dobbspet while speaking at the inauguration of the 60th Indian Foundry Congress, organised by the Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF) here on Friday.“Earlier, we had proposed a Foundry Cluster near Dobbspet. But it ran into certain problems because of issues raised by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). A few investors were asked to relocate from that project. But we will address all the problems to revive the project at Dobbspet at the earliest by taking into consideration growth prospects of the foundry industry,” Nirani added.The Dobbspet Foundry Cluster will be the second such industrial estate for foundry in Karnataka with a similar facility operating in Belgaum. The govt plans to release the pending subsidy due to various Small Scale Industries (SSI). “I am aware that the government owes subsidy of several crores of rupees. We will make budgetary allocation during 2012-13 to clear all the subsidy due,” Nirani added.R K Mathur, Secretary (Micro Small & Medium Enterprise), Govt of India, in his address, advised the foundry industry to take advantage of the various schemes launched for industry promotion. “Manufacturing has been stagnant at 15 per cent in the country for over several years. Unless, manufacturing contributes 25 per cent to the nation’s GDP, balanced growth is not possible,” he pointed out.