TV Mohandas Pai seeks Suvarna Karnataka expressway from Mallikarjuna Kharge’s place to Bengaluru

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Aarin Capital chairman T V Mohandas Pai has urged the state’s new Congress regime to plan a Suvarna Karnataka expressway from Bidar to Bengaluru as the party national president Mallikarjuna Kharge too hailed from that region. North Karnataka is home to manufacturing hubs, adding jobs, and contributing to the state’s revenue, the former Infosys director told ET, sharing his insights on the recent budget presented by chief minister Siddaramaiah.

“The Congress president is now from North Karnataka. There should be a special program for connectivity from the region…We should have a Suvarna Karnataka-expressway from Bidar to Bangalore, with spokes to Karwar and Mangaluru.” On the connectivity to Mangaluru, Pai said the port there was not getting traffic because the hill road had not been repaired in the last 20 years.

“We need a tunnel to break through the hill, whatever the cost, so that the port can do much more business, which will bring in more business for Karnataka.”High-paying jobs Pai urged the CM to train his focus on jobs, investments on Bengaluru and infrastructure building, higher education, social security coverage for senior citizens and low-income groups. The State's GDP was robust enough to absorb the expenditure bill on the Congress party's five election guarantees, but areas that would propel the economy and help youth acquire skills and get jobs demand a big share of this budget, he said.

The government, he said, should prioritise inviting industries. “The EV industry, for example, is a growth industry.

Yet both Ola and Ather moved away because the industries department was not able to give them land. Karnataka needs to be a favourable destination for high quality companies.” Karnataka, he said, added more