It is Advantage Karnataka with the Global Investor Meet kickstarting on Thursday at the Bangalore Palance grounds in which the state anticipates an investment of at least Rs 400,000 crore (Rs 4 trillion) in various sectors.
Bearing the theme Advantage Karnataka, the Global Investor Meet or the GIN is being held after ten years in the state. Some of the major names such as Lakshmi N Mittal of Arcelor Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla of Aditya Birla Group, Azim Premji of Wipro, Vijay Mallya of UB Group and Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys will take part in the meet.
Apart from this 2,500 business persons are also scheduled to take part.
The last time such a meet was held was in 2000 when the state had realised an investment of Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion). This year the government will be attracting more investors and has identified 12 key sectors - aerospace, minerals, tourism, biotechnology, automobile, IT, infrastructure, power, food processing, textile, health and education in which it would seek fresh investments.
The state is hopeful of signing 400 MoUs. The biggest one though is the pact with ArcelorMittal valued at Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion).
All these proposals have already been cleared by the B S Yedyyurappa government and the signing of the MoU will be a formality at the meet.
Murgesh Nirani, minister for Industries explains to rediff.com that this meet would not only benefit Bangalore but would also touch the lives of the remotest parts of the state. He says that the GIM would ensure on the spot financial assistance to speed up implementation of projects. Ministers and their secretaries will be present at the GIM to act as facilitators for the same.
The traffic congestion in Bangalore is likely to ease and several projects with the help of private players will be implemented during the meet to sort out this problem. The High Speed Rail Link to Bangalore International Airport, the mono-rail feeder service and the Metro and Peripheral Ring Road are some of the major projects which will be the highlight of the meet.
Plans have been drawn up to enable the industrialisation of all regions. Iron ore and limestone in northern Karnataka will be fully tapped, with steel giants Arcelor Mittal, Tata, Jindal and Surya Roshni who have agreed to set up mega steel plants.
Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa assured investors that the red tape has been removed and the red carpet has been rolled out for them. Delivering the inaugural address at the Global Investor Meet in Bangalore, the Chief Minister said that the state will extend all support to investors wishing to invest in Karnataka.
"All industry leaders should come forward and invest in Karnataka. We will have a special meeting to facilitate new investments and also set up a single window to speed up the process."
"Bangalore has improved in its global rankings and a large number of investors have responded to our invitation. My vision is a peaceful, progressive and an illiteracy free Karnataka in which farmers lead a life of dignity. The entrepreneurs have many ventures to start here and over the years we will provide opportunities to them not only to dream but also to realize it," he added.
"We want to achieve unparallel growth and have a quantum jump and also make the impossible possible.
This meet should result in doubling the investmen.t and employment opportunities. This would double the state revenues in two to four years time. I am confident, backward regions of North Karnataka will catch up with other parts of the state. Our state has many advantages and opportunities. Karnatka is endowed with natural resources and highly talented human resources."
The CM said that the first phase of the metro rail will be commissioned by the year end. To add to this "we want to realise the dream of having air connectivity within 100 kilometres of every part of the state."
In order to facilitate the improvement of backward areas, the government is setting up 18 industrial estates and five industrial corridors. Land banks have been created and as part of this 53,000 acres of land have been earmarked for acquisition. In addition to this 43,000 acres of land can also be acquired depending on the demand, he further stated.
On the tourism sector, Karnataka stands at the 4th position and the state will spend an additional Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) on it. We also propose to develop IT regions in 10,000 acres in North Bangalore, which has already been approved by the Union Government.
"One new global industry moves into Karnataka every week and this is a matter of pride. We have been able to attract huge investment from across the globe. Nearly 400 investors will sign MoUs with us today and tomorrow.
This project will be implemented as per schedule. The leading banks and financial institutions will provide assistance to the investors. We will be signing the MoUs with the banks tomorrow," Yeddyurappa concluded.
