The rate at which India has been growing is enviable and any hint of a slowdown is taken only with a pinch of salt, according to Mr Ingo Karsten, Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany based in Bangalore.

Mr Karsten said this wile speaking to newspersons here while on a familiarisation trip to Kerala, one of the two States that fall under his jurisdiction. Karnataka is the other.

EXEMPLARY GROWTH

Any growth rate above seven per cent is exemplary, and India has been consistently breaching that threshold. German industry and business federations have great confidence in India's growth story. Those which have already invested here are in for the long haul.

In fact, more such are willing to look at India and are ready to commit their funds here in an array of sectors including technology and infrastructure.

Asked if German entrepreneurs have found it difficult to get clearances/approvals on time, Mr Karsten said that they have ‘learnt to adjust' and are ‘adapting well'.

INFRA SECTOR

Germany is interested in investing in the infrastructure sector as a whole, especially in airport, urban transport including metro rail, ports, renewable energy, waste management, water recycling and scientific research, among others.

German business enterprise is already on display in the Delhi airport project and Chennai Metro, Mr Karsten said.

The European economic powerhouse also boasts the right technology in signalling systems and heavy-duty earth moving jobs, which have applications in the urban transport/metro rail projects.

The Consul-General expressed his country's interest in the proposed Vizhinjam deepwater port and international container transhipment terminal here.

TALKS WITH GOVT

He had conveyed this in the wide-ranging talks he had here with the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, the Chief Secretary, Mr P. Prabhakaran, and the Governor, Mr M.O.H. Farooq.

As for Kerala, the long coastline offered good potential to harness wind energy. When reminded that land is a scarce commodity here, he said the State could benefit from offshore farms. The capital-intensive nature of offshore farms and high-cost energy might appear as drawbacks in the short run. But they neutralise themselves out in the long run, given the peak-time capacity shortfall and non-availability of land to host wind farms.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Mr Karsten said he had broached the issue during his talks with the State Government. He visited the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology here to explore the possibility of collaboration with German institutes in scientific research.

A tie-up between the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and the National Centre for Biological Research, Bangalore, has been consummated. The office of the German Consulate in Bangalore started operating from September 15.

SKILLED LABOUR

During the period up to September 30, the Consulate received 1,000 visa applications, of which 98 per cent has been issued.

Germany needs skilled labour in large numbers, Mr Karsten said. The opportunities are open not just in IT, but across an entire range of disciplines in universities and institutions of higher learning.

Visa applications are processed online, and are issued in three to five days in the normal case.

But it could take eight to 10 days for getting a slot for the visa interview in Bangalore. Ninety per cent of those issued until now from Bangalore has been business visas.

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