Despite global economic uncertainties and a slowing economy, Karnataka has managed to attract some big-ticket investments at the Global Investment Meet (GIM).
The State Government said it has received 31 FDI proposals and is expected to sign MoUs with close to 400 companies. It expects the total investment committed to exceed Rs 6 lakh crore. The big-ticket investments include Tata Steel's Rs 30,000 crore in nine sectors including a six-million-tonne a year plant at Haveri.
The Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Mr Kumaramangalam Birla, announced investments of Rs 7,000 crore in the State including in a 4 mtpa cement plant (UltraTech) at Rs 2,750 crore and expanding the Grasim Industries' caustic soda plant at Harihara.
The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr D. V. Sadananda Gowda, said the State had taken some proactive steps to make it the best investment destination.
The Government has constituted the Karnataka ICT group 2020 under the leadership of Mr T. V. Mohandas Pai. This initiative is to increase ICT exports to Rs 4-lakh crore and create an additional 12 lakh jobs by 2020.
Similarly, for other sectors, the Government has draft policies to advance and facilitate investments. Some of these are the Infrastructure Bill, the Special Investment Region Act, the Karnataka State housing policy, and policies for the automobile, aerospace, solar and pharma sectors. Mr Gowda said the investor's needs have been addressed through timely interventions such as the new industrial policy, and policies in the SEZ, electronics hardware, textile and agri-business sectors.
Delivering the special address, the Infosys Chief Mentor, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, stressed the need for Karnataka to diversify its industrial base to create jobs. To increase the share of the country's GDP, industry had to create 10 crore jobs over the next decade.
“So, the government should focus on attracting investment and exports, apart from catering to domestic demand and help diversify the industrial base,” he said. For this to happen, the Government policies should attract FDI.