BBMP to take Electronics City under its fold

The BBMP Council on Tuesday passed a resolution to include Electronics City under its fold for ‘administrative purposes’.

The resolution read out by ruling party leader N Nagaraju stated, “Villages in and around Electronics City like Konappana Agrahara, Doddatugur, Gollahalli, Balaji Extension, Shikaripalya, Thirupalya, Neeladrinagar, Bettadasapura, Hulimangala, Govinda Shettypalya, Krishna Reddy Extension, Neo Town, Shanthipura, Veerasandra Industrial Area and Veerasandra will be merged under the BBMP’s jurisdiction.”

Earlier, Yediyur Councilor N R Ramesh said that  Electronic City was formed through KEONICS on 440 acres of land and at present it has spread over 5.2 sq km. It houses at least 187 major electronics and IT companies, over 25 residential apartments, 26 international education institutions and some three-star hotels. He also said that it has a total built up area of over 3 crore sq feet. “Though the surrounding areas are not under BBMP limits, it is providing all necessary infrastructure  to that area. Those in the Electronics City do not want it to be merged with the BBMP as they have to pay more property tax,” he said.

Bilekahalli Councillor Roopa Ramesh said that Narayana Nethralaya and Narayana Hrudayalaya are in Electronics city. “When we call 108 ambulance service, they refuse to come out of Bangalore. It is good if we include Electronics City under BBMP limits,” she said.

“Many retail and shopping malls will be coming up in the area shortly. If BBMP takes Electronics City under its fold, it can expect an additional revenue of Rs 300 crore,” he said.

Welcoming the move, Opposition leader M K Gunashekar suggested that the Bangalore International Airport (BIA) should also be under  BBMP to improve its revenues.