Bangalore:
Karnataka plans to establish a foundry cluster to promote the foundry industry, Minister forLarge and Medium Industries Murugesh Niran said.
The proposed foundry cluster will come up at Dobbspet, about 50 km from the city in the next six months, he said.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day 60th Indian Foundry Congress (IFC) and 8th International FoundryTechnology, Equipment Supplies (IFEX 2012).
The government wants to set up 14 industry-specific clusters, including for automobiles, gems and jewellery, andthe process of acquiring land has begun, he said.
He added the state plans to release the pending subsidy due to various Small Scale Industries (SSI).
R K Mathur, Secretary (Micro Small & Medium Enterprise), Government of India, advised the industry to take advantage ofthe various schemes launched for the industry promotion.
"Manufacturing has been stagnant at 15 per cent in the country for several years. Unless manufacturing contributes 25per cent to the GDP, balanced growth is not possible," he said.
Institute of Indian Foundrymen President H Sundara Murthy, said the industry in the country was growing at ahealthy 22 per cent.
More than 200 companies, both Indian and international, representing the foundry industry are participating in thethree-day fair.
More than 1,500 delegates from India and 15 other countries are participating in Indian Foundry Congress and IFEX 2012.