‘So What if hero Moto Corp leaves, we’ ve got Amazon’

Bengaluru: Claiming that the state could do nothing to stop Hero Moto Corporation from taking its new venture to Seemandhra giving Hubli a miss, Chief Minister  Siddaramaiah asserted that Karnataka remained an international investors’ hub  and one or two companies moving out would not impact its prospects.

“The government gave more concessions to Hero Moto than  Honda Motors in Narasapura on the outskirts of Bengaluru as it was  setting up its unit in North Karnataka. We gave it  500 acres of land as well. But after the division of Andhra Pradesh, Seemandhra is badly in need of development and is desperately wooing investors. I am told it is allotting land for free, while we are charging Rs 35 lakh per acre,'' he said, reasoning that as Seemandhra was a new state the Centre would shower it with grants.

“ Some companies like Hero Moto may therefore move there. However, Karnataka leads the international investors' hub,'' he told reporters here,  also assuring that Bengaluru would not lose the Amazon e-commerce venture to Maharashtra.

“Commercial tax officials have held one round of talks with  Amazon, which is objecting to  VAT being imposed on e-trading and they will  have  one more round of talks before we begin negotiations,” he added.

Amazon, though, is clearly sticking to its stand and held out the threat that if the state commercial tax regime remained unfriendly, it could move out of the state. "Specifically to the Karnataka tax issues, we have been working with the relevant authorities to address their concerns. We understand this to be a case where the laws have not kept pace with the new-age online business models...We look forward to an early resolution in order to avoid closing our local warehousing operations in Karnataka and to stay on course for bringing more investments in the state.

Asked about the violations made by B-category mines and the Supreme Court’s directions to the state to act in the matter, Mr Siddaramaiah said  he had not yet  received the order.

“I read about the Supreme Court’s observations in the media Once I get the order copy, I will hold a meeting with  officials and take a decision on what needs to be done next,'' he added.