E-Paper
Govt aiming at ₹1 lakh crore investments at global meet
The people said that the state industries department has just concluded at least two road shows in Japan and South Korea over the last week, adding to its kitty, and also proposes to head next to countries like the USA, Germany, Sweden, Israel and France, among others.
Since the World Economic Forum and its annual meeting at Davos in May, the Karnataka government has stated that it has been able to attract investments from various countries and into different sectors, totalling nearly ₹1 lakh crore with the potential to create at least 50,000 jobs, people aware of the developments said.
The people said that the state industries department has just concluded at least two road shows in Japan and South Korea over the last week, adding to its kitty, and also proposes to head next to countries like the USA, Germany, Sweden, Israel and France, among others.
“This time, the government has asked the department to set up a screening committee under the aegis of the additional chief secretary to ensure only genuine investment interests make it to the state. Even if the number of companies is low, the minister has asked that only genuine investors be given a priority,” said one person aware of the developments, requesting not to be named.
Karnataka is one of the highest recipients of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) among all the states in India, according to union government data. The state managed to rake in 37.55% of all FDI equity inflows into the country, totalling $84,835 million in FY 21-22, according to the trend on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India released by the Press Information Bureau on July 28.
A robust ecosystem of technology, startups, aerospace, research and development, biotechnology and other thriving sectors that came to be over the decades has added to Karnataka’s global investment attractiveness.
However, Karnataka has also lost out on several such big-ticket projects over the years due to protests, red tape, and delays in providing requisite clearances, among other issues that have led to missed opportunities in the past, above-cited people said.
The state government has made several amendments to policies in the past, even some diluting labour laws, to attract investments during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns. In January 2020, then chief minister BS Yediyurappa said that the government will introduce amendments to existing land legislations like section 109 of the Karnataka land Reforms Act, for industries which would speed the process of approvals and attract more investments into the state which had led to miss opportunities of nearly ₹50,000 crores between 2013-19.
Out of the total 142 proposals totalling ₹49379.13 crore, approved between 2013 and 2019 under section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act for setting up new projects or existing manufacturing units in sectors like automobiles, textiles, and mining among others, over 90 of them remain non-starters, including 23 that have been dropped completely, the Mint reported on November 27, 2019.
These 90 projects were valued at over ₹ 39,000 crore with the potential to create 80,000 jobs in Karnataka, where frequent droughts and floods have hit the rural and agricultural economy hard, forcing millions to migrate to urban areas in search of employment, the report added.
Presently, the state government plans to bring in about ₹5 lakh crores by the Global Investors Meet here, scheduled to be held in November this year. The biennial event has not been held in Karnataka since 2016.
During the Global Investors Meet in 2010, the then tourism minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, signed an MoU for ₹36,000 crores to set up a steel plant in the state. It was bigger than the ₹30,000 crore investment proposal by ArcelorMittal and over ₹32,000 crore by South Korea-based Posco. All three projects did not take off even though the government at the time had claimed the proposals themselves as a victory, the people said.
“The response from the investors have been positive during the road show in Japan. In last couple of months the MoUs worth nearly a lakh crore rupees have been signed including that was done in the Davos,” Murugesh Nirani, Karnataka’s minister for large and medium industries, said.
“The favourable investment environment in the state and pro-industry polices enacted by the state government lead by Shri Basavaraj Bommai have made investors to choose Karnataka as their first destination. Besides attracting highest FDI in the country, Karnataka has been categorised among top achieving state in “Ease of Doing Business”,” he added.
