Software Park In Karnataka

Reliance Industries has approached the Karnataka government for setting up a Rs 1,600-crore software development centre near Bangalore. A state government official said Reliance had been asked to submit a formal proposal in this respect.

The official said the software development centre was one of the largest investments in the infotech sector in Karnataka.

He said the group was keen on setting up the centre at the Electronics City near here, which hosts some of the biggest names in the industry like Infosys Technologies.

While a Reliance spokesperson declined to comment on the development, the state government official said the company had been informed that around 70 acre of land was readily available for setting up the centre.

"However, Reliance representatives were keen on another 100 acre in the same area. We are now planning to buy additional land for them," the official said.

This is the first time that Reliance is planning to set up a software centre. According to sources in the company, Reliance has already started picking up small stakes in various software companies across the country.

This is part of a larger gameplan by Reliance to make its foray into the infotech sector. It wants to make a quiet entry before launching a major project, observers said.

The official said another round of discussions would be held with Reliance representatives during the global investor meet to be held here. Reliance has already set up its Bangalore office for liason with the state for its proposals. Incidentally, Reliance has not set up any project in Karnataka thus far.

The state official said Karnataka is making certain changes in its industrial policy. The new policy will aim at strengthening the infrastructure in the state but wil not dole out any incentives to the industries for setting up their projects. However, incentives will be given out to those companies, which plan to set up their projects in the backward areas.

He also said that for the first time the new industrial policy would be based on human development index of the state. It will be based on per-capita income. During the global investors meet, Karnataka plans to attract investments to the tune of around Rs 10,000 crore. In 1999-2000, the state drew new investments to the tune of Rs 17,000 crore.