Bengaluru: Close on the heels of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa speaking about India’s first Toy Manufacturing cluster coming up in Koppala, former Minister Priyank Kharge has criticised him for taking credit for the same.
Taking objection to the tweet by the CM, Kharge said that the cluster was approved by the Congress-JDS coalition government.
Kharge wrote, “Toy cluster project in Koppala was approved by the Congress/JDS coalition Govt. Much before the “vision” of #VocalForLocal. Also Karnataka has close to 50 Geographical Indication Tag products, highest in India. We have been #VocalForLocal long before PM started this #Jumla.”
In his tweet, CM Yediyurappa had tweeted that Koppal, which is set to become India’s first ‘toy manufacturing cluster’, has the potential to create 40,000 jobs in five years.
He also claimed that the project is likely to attract investments worth Rs 5,000 crore. He said the programme is in line with PM Narendra Modi’s Vocal for Local campaign, which aims to create an environment of self-reliance among Indians and the country’s businesses to manufacture locally and independently.
CM Yediyurappa’s tweet came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for India to become the world’s toy manufacturing hub, during his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address.
As per reports, the Koppal toy cluster initiative was announced by then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in September 2018 as part of his ‘Compete with China’ scheme. Eight other districts were also identified by the government.
The eight other districts included in the scheme were Kalaburgi (for solar power goods), Chitradurga (for LED lights), Hassan (sanitary goods), Mysuru (ICB manufacturing unit), Ballari (textiles), Chikkaballapur (mobile phone components), Tumakuru (sports and fitness goods) and Bidar (agricultural implements).
