Years before Bangalore became the Silicon Plateau of India, it flaunted the largest industrial estate in South-East Asia. But today, the Peenya Industrial Estate is a sorry mess of concrete and steel. Tucked away nearly 20 km from the heart of Bangalore, on the highway to Pune, the writing on the walls there is quite clear: Industrialise and perish. So what if the state government is touting Karnataka as India’s investment capital. As the estate marks its silver jubilee this year, the Express team toured the sprawling set-up of 34 sq km, four stages and stumbled across rusty shutters and closed iron gates over dusty roads dotted with potholes.The workers? Many of them are now plying autorickshaws. The only relief, at least visually, is the sprawling campus of power major ABB India and an unoccupied three-storeyed structure constructed by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).As for the reasons behind Peenya’s downfall, it’s the same old story: Lack of infrastructure facilities, poor maintenance by civic authorities, government apathy and competition. ‘‘Of the 3,500 units located in the estate, nearly 35 per cent have shut shop, displacing nearly 25,000 jobs. Today, Peenya has over 2,000 units, most of them catering to the garment industry, employing around 2 lakh people,’’ says N. Prahallada, president of the Peenya Industries’ Association. Many entrepreneurs borrowing money at higher rates of interest didn’t help matters either, adds Prahallada. ‘‘The banks charged at least 2 per cent more than the prime lending rate (the prime lending rates of majority of the banks are at 11-12 percent). Some of them even charged 6 per cent more. This is eating away our margins,’’ he explains. The tax structure and legislation affecting small scale units also acted as deterrents. ‘‘There are nearly 52 norms that we have to comply with. You name it and it is there,’’ says Prahallada.Though most of the units here are ancillary units supplying components to major industries, the closure of government giants like Mysore Lamps and the NGEF have dented Peenya’s image further. Besides, with major industries opting for modernisation, these ancillary units have been left high and dry, leading to the inevitable downing of shutters.‘‘We used to work for a manufacturing unit. When the unit closed down, we were left to fend for ourselves. Then I started driving this autorickshaw for livelihood,’’ says Sadananda, an auto driver in the area. At least four other auto drivers had similar tales to tell: ‘‘What else could we do? We did not want to take up illegal means for survival.’’Make no mistake, Peenya these days is a picture of penury. Most of the asphalt roads have been washed away, the drainage system is virtually non-existent and water supply is erratic at best. While the civic authorities — Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) and Dasarahalli City Municipal Corporation (CMC) — are quick to penalise industries for defaulting on taxes, their negligence and apathy are apparent. ‘‘Over 50 per cent of entrepreneurs have defaulted on tax to the CMC,’’ claims Dasarahalli CMC commissioner Anne Gowda. In the event, even the Karnataka Small Scale Industrial Development Corporation (KSSIDC), which has been given the mandate to develop the area, has thrown up its hands in despair. As a KSSIDC official puts it: ‘‘Entrepreneurs have stopped applying for space to run their business here. So why should we develop this area?’’
