After Hero MotoCorp Ltd. dropped Karnataka as its destination for a project, the government is making an all-out effort to retain the Coca-Cola Company’s investment in the State.
The government, which had been dithering for the last two years over the company’s request for allotment of 250 acres in Yadgir district in north Karnataka to set up a greenfield bottling plant, has now started the process of handing over land to the company.
Recently, officials of Coca-Cola visited Telangana to explore investment opportunities in the newly-formed State.
Speaking to The Hindu , Ratna Prabha, State Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industry Department, said the Coca-Cola Company is expected to invest Rs. 1,000 crore in Yadgir.
She said the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has started making payments to land owners at Yadgir, and the area has been notified for industrial development. The KIADB will hand over 250 acres at Kadechur village in Yadgir taluk to the company in a few days.
Compensation
An official of the Yadgir unit of the KIADB said that land would be handed over to the company in a week’s time. Compensation of Rs. 7.5 lakh per acre was paid to those whose land acquired located near the road. Other farmers had been paid Rs. 6 lakh per acre, the official said.
The previous BJP Government had cleared the Coca Cola’s investment plan in Yadgir. But due to High Court stay, the government could not allot them land immediately. The court has vacated the stay now.
Nearly 3,330 acres at Kadechur and Baliyala have been reserved for industrial purpose. Spread across three talukas — Shahapur, Shorapur and Yadgir — the district is known for cluster of cement industries and a distinct stone popularly know as “Malakheda Stone.”
The district has a vast stretch of fertile black cotton soil and is known for red gram, cotton, jowar and groundnut cultivation.