The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to start industrial parks on higher educational campuses in the State.
It approved the Campus Industrial Park Scheme – 2024 as part of the initiative to set up industrial parks in unutilised land on the campuses. The scheme is designed to address the shortage of land for setting up industrial ventures in the State.
The government hoped that the project would help students cultivate entrepreneurship, besides establishing industry-academia linkages. A system to promote industrial production of new products designed through the research on the campuses will be designed as part of the scheme, said P. Rajeeve, Minister for Industries, in a communication.
The industrial parks can be set up in universities, arts and science colleges, professional colleges, polytechnics, and ITIs having a minimum land of 5 acres. For standard design factories, the requirement will be 2 acres only.
A selection panel comprising the Principal Secretaries of Industries, Higher Education, Finance, Revenue, Local Self- Government, Revenue, Water Resources and Environment will take a decision on the applications submitted by industries interested in setting up the parks.
District-level committees comprising representatives of various departments will inspect the land identified on the campuses. The clearance from the Department of Higher Education will be a prerequisite for setting up the industrial parks.
The government will provide up to ₹1.5 crore for setting up common facilities including roads, electricity and waste disposal at the parks cleared under the scheme. The campus parks will be eligible for industry status accorded by the government.