The Infosys logo.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Bengaluru: Deputy Leader of the Opposition Arvind Bellad on Tuesday asked the government to withdraw 58 acres of land allotted to IT major Infosys in Hubballi for not creating a single job, with Industries Minister MB Patil promising action.
Bellad, the Hubli-Dharwad (West) MLA, said this during a discussion on a calling attention motion by Mulbagal MLA Samruddhi Manjunath regarding jobs for locals at industrial establishments.
"There's an industrial estate in my constituency where Infosys took 58 acres. They've not created a single job. Instead, they've done gardening and landscaping," Bellad said.
The BJP MLA said Infosys got land worth Rs 1.5 crore per acre at just Rs 35 lakh. "I requested farmers to part with their lands saying their children would get jobs. Today, I can't see them in the eye. I convinced them to withdraw their court case also. There must be some penalty," Bellad said. He even complained that jobs for locals have not been provided at the Hubballi airport operated by the Airports Authority of India.
Infosys' Hubballi campus, which has a capacity to house 1,500 techies, was cleared in 2013. The campus was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore.
"If land was taken, but nothing was done, then we will issue notice and take action," Patil said, without naming Infosys.
When Bellad asked what penal action the government can take, Patil and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said incentives will be withdrawn. "We can even consider a policy (for penalties)," Patil said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka stressed on the need for penalties on industries that do not provide jobs for locals or comply with rules.
Earlier, Manjunath said industries are not complying with the requirement of giving jobs to Kannadigas. To this, Patil said out of 36,286 jobs in the Narsapur industrial area in Kolar, 28,543 are held by locals.
"Under the Industrial Policy 2020-25, establishments receiving incentives from the government must provide 100% Group D jobs and an overall 70% jobs to Kannadigas," Patil said. The minister stressed that it is mandatory for jobs to be given to families who lost land in lieu of the industrial investment.
"Be it Infosys or any company, if land losers aren't given jobs based on their educational qualification, we can withdraw incentives. We can even withdraw the land in stringent action," Patil said.
Patil also said the government will ensure jobs for land losers at Taiwanese giant Foxconn's plant in Doddaballapur where 20 million iPhones will be manufactured.