Let us look at a general picture of the small scale industrial scene in Karnataka especially from the point of view of their spatial distribution, investment costs, growth rates and man power generation. Even though these aspects are not directly related to the energy consumption patterns, they throw light on the developmental aspects and also indirectly influence energy and environment.

Table 4 gives the growth rate of SSI units in the State starting from 1969-70 onwards. Investment and number of persons employed are also given. We can see that the investment/job varies with years. Initially there was a downward trend. This was followed by an oscillatory behaviour; but the trend has become upward (increasing) from the year 1978-79 onwards. it has more than doubled in six years.

The variations are more marked for the cumulative calculations. Percentage of units varies from 1.23 (for Kodagu) to 30.59 (for Bangalore). Bidar has 1.06% on investment while Bangalore takes a 38.22% share. Percentage of persons employed varies from 1.04 (Chikmagalur) to 36.25 (Bangalore).

Table 7 calculates investment/job in various districts, as well as the percent of population employed in each district. Investment/job is the lowest for Chikmagalur (Rs. 4,581.44) and highest for Bangalore (Rs. 26,898.67). In Bangalore rural, each job needs an investment on Rs. 33.291. This means that the industries are capital intensive. The Uttara Kannada district requires Rs. 21,904 per job.

Many times, we feel that SSIs generate employment. This aspect is also looked at in this table. The column percent of population employed calculates the ratio of the number of persons employed in SSI in a district to the total population of that district as a percentage. This fraction is quite low for all the districts. Mysore provides employment in SSI for only 0.23% of its population, U.K. district, on the lowest side, provides employment to only 0.054% of its population (for the year 1982-83). If we look at the cumulative picture, Bangalore gives employment to 3.16% of its population and Gulbarga to only 0.376% of its population. Only four districts cross the 1% mark, all others providing employment to less than 1% of their population in SSI sector.

Table 8 looks at another parameter - investment per capita. Again Bangalore leads with Rs. 47.16 in 1982-83 (Rs. 290.68 cumulative) and at the other end is Bijapur Rs. 4.11 in 1982-83 (25.15 cumulative). Only four districts have investment/population greater than this state average (cumulative).