South Indias dal bowl to get tur park

BANGALORE: The state government will establish a ‘Pulses Park’ in Gulbarga - considered as the “dal bowl” of south India - to accommodate all tur dal trading activities of the Hyderabad- Karnataka region in a single cluster.Speaking to the media after a meeting with representatives of the Gulbarga Dal Mills Association here on Friday, Minister for Large and Medium-scale Industries Murugesh N Nirani informed that the government has agreed to allocate 100 acres of land at Kapanur village, on the outskirts of Gulbarga town, for the Pulses Park, which is estimated to generate an annual turnover of `500 crore.Land acquisition for the proposed Park will be entrusted with the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Corporation (KIADB); land acquired will be handed over to the Dal Mills Association, Gulbarga.The Association, added Nirani, will float a Special Purpose Vehicle to execute the project which will help industrialists and the farming community of the H-K region.Nirani informed that the cost estimate for the proposed park is yet to be worked out; he said that the Park will generate at least 2,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs.Around 227 dal mills are operating in Gulbarga.The state has waived off cess collection from tur dal farmers and authorities will be instructed to not to impose the same to farmers selling tur in the regulated market.It will release Rs 50 lakh as subsidy towards the construction of warehouses to store foodgrains.