The Global Investors Meet (GIM) was held in Bangalore Karnataka for 2 days on June 4 and June 5, 2010. Karnataka is the new land of opportunities. The mega event started off with a grand start not only fuelling hopes of an economic revival for not just Karnataka but for the entire nation.
GIM was inspired by Gujarat and its Chief Minister Narendra Modi which attracted Rs 7.5 trillion in investments. Many industries in India have been eager to enter Gujarat which is known for no red-tape policy. The latest success story from Gujarat has been the launch of the low cost car Tata Nano.
The star attraction of GIM was Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, the world's figth richest and the head of the world's largest steel company, ArcelorMittal. Mittal has options to invest in 3 states - Karnataka, Orissa and Jharkhand. He said he would go ahead with the project in the state which gives the speediest clearances and land allotment.
One of the sticky issues in attracting such large investments is land. The state government is ensuring they acquire land without inviting unnecessary legal trouble down the road. No state wants to repeat a Singur. It is important for the state to ensure the farmers are properly compensated and should be able to benefit from future increase in land value by making them shareholders of the entire industrial land. In Karnataka, KIADB will be responsible for the acquisition of land. Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said exclusive commercial courts would be in place soon in high courts for speedy disposal of commercial and business related issues.
On June 5, 2010 Karnataka got pledges worth Rs 4.5 trillion. If all investments come as promised, Karnataka will be able to create 850,00 new jobs in sectors ranging from steel, cement, auto, energy and information technology. The state is battling with shortage of power, these new industries will require 2500 MW of power.
At the end of GIM, the state signed 352 MoUs. The steel sector invested Rs 221,244 crore, cement industry Rs 36,991 core, power sector Rs 25,214 crore.
The govt expects at least 55% of the MoUs to achieve completion. All districts are hoping to get a slice of these investments by which migration of villagers could reduce.
Financial houses have already committed extending loans to these industries. For e.g. Canara Bank (Rs 20,000 crore), IDBI & IFCI to the tune of Rs 150,000 crore.
To summarize,
- Citizens: will get 890,000 jobs, all development work in Bangalore will be on fast-track, focus on Tier-II and Tier-III cities, focus on Karnataka's backward regions
- Investors: Fast-track clearances, special incentives and concessions, access to skilled manpower. Investors can view the progress of their MoU online.
- For the state: Development of backward regions, increase in tax revenue, reduction in regional imbalance
People Behind GIM
- Chief Minister: Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa
- Industries Minister: Mr. Murugesh R Nirani
- Industries Secretary: Mr. V.P. Baligar
- Chief Secretary: Mr. S V Ranganath
Cost of Conducting GIM
Ahead of the event, the Karnataka state government conducted huge road shows in USA, China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Experts say the total cost of conducting GIM would be in the region of Rs 200 crore.
Proposed Industrial Corridors
All industries are expected to start their operations in the following industrial corridors,
- Bidar-Gulbarga-Yadgir-Bellary-Chitradurga-Tumkur-Bangalore
- Udupi-Shimoga-Davangere
- Uttara Kannada-Tumkur
- Belgaum-Dharwad-Haveri-Chitradurga
- Bijapur-Bagalkot-Chitradurga
- Raichur-Koppal
Food Hub
The state has everything to attract investments in the food industry.
Karnataka has a road network of about 52,000 km, a railway network of about 3180 km, two major and 8 minor ports, 5 domestic airports and 2 international airports (Bangalore & Mangalore). Karnataka has very strong agri-infrastructure, including 146 main market yars, 352 sub-market yars, 138 cold stoarges of about 0.4 million tonnes capacity and warehousing capcity of about 1.95 million tonnes. Karnataka is the largest producer of ragi, sunflower, tomato, coffee, arecanut, spieces, aromatic & medicinal plants. The state is the second largest producer of maize, safflower, grapes, pomegranate and onion.
Auto Hub
Karnataka is the 4th largest automobile investment destination in the country after Maharashtra, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Bosch Group, MAG Industrial Automation Systems, General Motors India are likely to invest in Karnataka. Bosch has asked for 100 acres of land in Bidadi (Rs 550 crore investment). MAG whose main customers are GM and Ashok Leyland plans to set up a technical center in 2011 followed by $2m plant in 2014-15. GM plans to employ 400 engineers in its Bangalore R&D center by March 2011.
Implementation of MoUs
Citizens, govt & industries would like to see to that these MoUs turning into reality. To ensure the speedy implementation of these MoUs,
- State govt will set up task forces that will include industry representatives to review the progress of MoUs signed.
- The progress will be reviewed every month.
- Every quarter the govt will release a report card to update the citizens about the status of the projects.
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