bangalore the prestigious indira gandhi national centre for arts started its southern regional centre in bangalore with the foundation laying ceremony on saturday located on 23 acres of land in the sprawling bangalore university jnana bharathi campus off mysore road the indira gandhi rashtriya kalakendra as the centre will be known will promote art and culture organise foreign exchange programmes strive to preserve folk art will have a studio library and will be developed as a tourist centre this the second premier art and culture body which has started its regional centre in bangalore the national gallery of modern art is also setting up its regional centre in the city in manickyavelu mansion on palace road speaking after laying the foundation stone union culture and tourism minister ananth kumar announced that the national school of drama would also set up its regional centre in karnataka for which the state government had already promised five acres referring to the kalakendra kumar said the central government would allocate rs 45 crore for the first phase it will become a major centre for cultural renaissance he said chief minister sm krishna emphasised the need for such centres since they established the identity of the state the cm also announced a rs 1 crore grant for the centre in response to kumars request