Bengaluru: The new avatar of the Global Investors’ Meet, Invest Karnataka, takes off Wednesday with the Who’s Who of the corporate world touching down in Bengaluru. Besides the Tatas, Ambanis, Mahindras, Birlas and Jindals, IT czars, NR Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji are expected to take the opportunity to invest, expand and explore business opportunities in the state.
But will all the talk and promises made during the summit translate into real gains for the state? A member of the High Level Committee that screens the projects, claims that a lot of MoUs were signed during the last BJP government in Karnataka without properly analysing the feasibility of projects or the clearances required. “So the follow-up drained the departments concerned and a lot was lost in transit. This time, every project is being screened by the High Level Committee (HLC) and there is clarity of investments as we are looking to realistically ground the investments,’’ he maintains.
Oozing confidence that things will be different this time, he points out the state has a huge talent pool in various areas, including research and development, and skilled manpower. Not only Information Technology, even defence, automotive and textiles have found a firm footing here in the last 15 years. We also have an excellent climate and lifestyle. You cannot ignore Karnataka. Bengaluru is a marketeers’ delight and is also an innovators’ market. The first 15 per cent of any product across any sector is tested here. There is so much talent here that most sectors can jumpstart production not worrying about training,’’ he notes.
As for deficit power, connectivity and terrible traffic, he acknowledges that they are hurdles and cannot be ignored. We need restructuring at all levels and I have been working on this closely. We need infrastructure investors who are keen to make a difference this time around. Changes will happen and they are bound to happen. We will work out ways and means to help facilitate the basic infrastructure,” he promises, adding, “ We are putting in place all parameters. Going online will be meaningless when online applications cannot be duly processed. We are working on deadlines and dates and elimination of ground level interventions. The challenge will be to navigate through timelines and get the projects up and running.’’
Looking at Rs 2 lakh crore investment
As business bigwigs get down to the nitty gritty at Invest Karnataka 2016, they will be able to rely on 26,000 acres being readily available with the state land bank for projects. “There will be no land acquisition issues here. We are looking at R&D, defence manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, heavy industries, food processing, and automobile expansions like with Toyota and Volvo to mention a few. There is a lot of interest in infrastructure investment too,’’ says a senior officer of the government.
Ask him how much and he says, “Realistically speaking we are easily looking at Rs 2 lakh crore. We will be seeing a lot activity in the real estate sector around Bengaluru that should address the housing issues.”
Two Corridors in focus
The state will be pushing for investments in two corridors: The Chennai-Bengaluru-Chitradurga Investment Corridor (CBCIC) and Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) , which will have an influencing zone of 150 kms on each side of the corridor. There will also be dedicated nodes across these corridors. While Tumkuru’s National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs)NIMZ will be one of the three nodes on the CBCIC corridor, Dharwad will be the first node on the BMEC corridor. Besides the corridors, investors will be showcased 152 thriving industrial areas and 60 Special Economic Zones.
Incidentally, the Tumakuru node is also the first NIMZs in the country. As much as 13,928 acres is being acquired and the first phase covering 4,146 acres has already been developed. In the offing are a dedicated Machine Tool Park spread across about 500 acres and a dedicated Japanese Park covering around 500 acres. China, Germany, Korea and other countries have also shown interest in country- specific dedicated parks.
The Kumble spin for investment bash
Former Indian Test Captain and spin wizard, Anil Kumble, will be one of the chief guests at Invest Karnataka 2016 on February 4. Co-founder of TENVIC, a structured sports training and business levering firm, that he floated in November 2015, he will participate in his capacity as a businessmen.
Many stretches get much-needed asphalt
With just a day to go for Invest Karnataka – 2016, as many as 36 corridors have been given a facelift at a cost of Rs 3.27 crore to ensure a smooth ride to the Palace Grounds for VIPs and investors, scheduled to attend the event from Feb. 3-5.
The BBMP is doing the road work on instructions from Industries Minister, R. V. Deshpande. Mechanical sweepers have been deployed to clean 20 of the 36 major roads and turn them into zero garbage and zero debris stretches. Medians have been beautified with flower bearing plants , lane marking is being done and footpath vendors cleared.
The roads being upgraded are Jayamahal Road, Nandidurg Road, Ballary Road, Sankey Road, Race Course Road, Palace Cross Road, Cubbon Road, Lavelle Road, St. Johns Church Road, MG Road, Brigade Road, Miller Road, Malleswaram Main Road, Yeshwantpur Circle Road, Mahakavi Kuvempu Road, MV Jayaram Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Kasturba Road, Suranjandas Road, Richmond Road, Infantry Road, KG Road, Seshadri Road, Field Marshal Karyappa Road, St. Marks Road, Museum Road, Residency Road, HAL Airport Road, Old Madras Road, Double Road, Lalbagh Road and Nrupatunga Road.
MoU inked
The government and Astarc Infra Developers inked an MoU Monday evening for the development of Hubli-Dharwad region and for a state of the art technology cluster. Before inking the MoU, Mr Kishore Musale, chairman of Astarc Infra Developers, said the cluster would come up on 200 acres on the NH$ next to the IIT, Dharwad. The company aims to invest Rs. 500 crore and attract and incubate new centres of medium and large technology corporations.
"Health of all financial wings in Karnataka is not sound and we will offer low cost loans for companies to set up their base here. Negotiations will take place with companies from China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, UK, Finland, Australia among others," said Mr. Musale.
