Bengaluru, April 13 -- Mandya emerges as the new industrial battleground as union Minister HD Kumaraswamy makes a rare intervention in Karnataka's industrial planning, joining hands with state Industries Minister MB Patil in a high-stakes push to bring a premier Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) testing centre to his Lok Sabha constituency.
The proposal is ambitious - a large-scale international testing hub for automobiles and electric vehicles, only the fifth of its kind in the country, with a projected land requirement of 500-600 acres. If realised, it could transform Mandya from a predominantly agrarian district into a strategic EV and auto research corridor.
The discussion at Vidhana Soudha signals an unusual centre-stat...