Transport strike: No plans to impose ESMA, clarifies Bommai

News Network

December 12, 2020

Bengaluru, Dec 12: Karnataka Home minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday ruled out any possibilities of enforcing ESMA against the State Transport Corporation employees, who were on strike since Thursday.

"State Government has no plans to impose Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the striking employees of the State Transport Corporation", the Minister said after meeting Chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

Stating that the general public are in great trouble following the agitation by the STC employees, the home minister had appealed to the Union Leaders to come for negotiations to resolve their issues.

"It is unfair on the past of the Employees, who had stayed away from their works, when the people of the state are at great difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic" he said.

Maintaining that the Transport minister Lakshman Savadi has continued touch with both the Officials of the STC's as well as with the leaders of the agitating employees leaders, the Home minister expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, Chief minister B S Yediyurappa had also appealed to the Union leaders to end their strike and help to bring the Transport services in the state to normalcy. as the general public including students, labourers as well as farmers had been badly affected by the agitation.

Chief minister had also assured to look into addressing the issues bothering the STC employees, once they withdraw their agitation.

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Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

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