IIIT-Bangalore to set up semiconductor lab

The Karnataka Cabinet today approved a proposal to set up a semiconductor lab by the Indian Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) in Bangalore.

The lab will be set up under the public private partnership (PPP) model at an investment of Rs 27 crore.

Briefing reporters here today after the cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the minister for law, Suresh Kumar and V S Acharya, minister for higher education said, the lab will be funded by Central and state governments along with the private partner who will invest Rs 9.75 crore. The IIIT-B will also set up a “focused” school in the city, he said.

The cabinet also approved setting up of an international convention centre near the Bangalore international airport at a cost of Rs 250 crore, which will help promote the city as an attractive destination for international conferences and exhibitions.

Kumar said the centre would house a convention hall with a seating capacity for 6,000 and 20 small conference halls which would accommodate between 50 and 200 people, besides a 20,000 square metre exhibition centre.

It would come up on a 35-acre plot to be acquired by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB). The State has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 50 crore for the centre, while the remaining funds would be mobilised by KIADB.

Under the Bangalore Helix project at Electronic City, a biotech lab and incubation facilities for biotech startups would be established at a cost of Rs 16 crore on five acres of land, he said.

The cabinet also gave its nod to allot 103 acres through KIADB to BMM Ispat to set up a steel plant in Hospet taluk in Bellary district.

A decision on fixing the rate for the land has been left to the chief minister, he said.

The cabinet also cleared introduction of sustainable urban transport system in Mysore, which will have an intelligent transport system to track movement of city buses on a real-time basis through GPS system.

The project involves an investment of Rs 19.35 crore, of which Rs 17.50 crore would be funded by the Centre.

A training school for heavy transport vehicle drivers will be set up in Dharwad at a cost of Rs 12 crore.

The school is aimed at minimising road accidents, the minister said.

While the state transport department would set up these schools, which would have driving tracks and hostel facilities, among others, they would be run by the private sector, Suresh Kumar added.