Implementation Focus Makes Karnataka More Competitive: CII Bangalore: Vision to think big in terms of planning and time bound implementation mechanism and consensus among industry, political leaders and bureaucrats can make Karnataka more competitive and makeover its image. CII Karnataka Annual Members Day 2012 held on Thursday in Bangalore discussed on the theme ‘Karnataka Competitiveness- Has Times Come For An Image Makeover?’ and concluded that interaction at regular intervals is needed among the leaders of industry, political leaders and bureaucrats to implement the projects as per schedule.
Mr Suresh Kumar, Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Karnataka, released CII Karnataka Annual Report 2011-12 and Karnataka Competitiveness Report. The report contains the findings of the study initiated by CII, which compared several parameters of Karnataka against Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Haryana. The report says, socio economic growth is not even in the state in spite of attracting huge investments through Global Investors Meets. Good connectivity corridors and improving educational standards and socioeconomic conditions of North Karnataka can change the image of the state, according to the report. Though Karnataka is pioneer in many policy initiatives, it needs to focus on implementing the approved projects to become the best state in the country, report says.
Mr T T Ashok, Chairman, CII Southern Region and Taylor Rubber Pvt Ltd, said, “We are not investing enough in India. New norms of planning should be more dynamic and fluid. Better planning will not come with cost cutting alone. Karnataka has specific issues related to infrastructure. Huge power capacity is being created but fuel supply scenario for that is bleak. E-waste disposal is another challenge. Agenda for CII is to train next generation to be better employees or entrepreneurs. We have delivery labs and sectoral groups in CII. We will set up global leadership, regional leadership and sunrise sector targets.
Mr T V Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Universal Learning, said, “ Karnataka lacks a broader vision. Bangalore with 15% of state’s population makes up 60% of state GDP and the remaining 85% percent of people living outside Bangalore contribute to 40% of GDP. If you remove Bangalore rest of Karnataka GDP is poorer than Bihar’s. As we are a capital short and labour surplus country, we should focus on creating jobs.” Mr Mohandas Pai added," It is not true that we are producing IT workforce. Bangalore has 75,000 chip designers and will overtake Taiwan by next year. Going by our own example in Mangalore and Mysore, we realized that IT will not grow in Tier 2 cities as they lack in social infrastructure.”
Mr S Chandrasekhar, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council and MD, Bhoruka Power Corporation, said, “Karnataka has to improve base load performance in power sector. In the last two years, we are losing substantial energy in the installed capacity. North Karnataka has highest rate of transmission loses. Rationalization of tariff is needed. If we do not get thermal plants, power transmission problem will be severe in the next two years. We need to have a transmission corridor from Western India as Gujarat is willing to give. Importing coal is costly for Karnataka as port connectivity is poor. We need to improve renewable energy capacity implementation. State government should set up a procurement agency for fuel import. Central Government should do some oil exploration in west Karnataka.”
Mr Ingo Karsten, Consul General, German Consulate General, Bangalore, said, “ German Government is not only promoting trade investment in Karnataka, but also encouraging cultural and political exchange. Our consulate started full fledged visa section last September in Bangalore and issued 10,000 business visas till now. We have series of business and cultural events from June 22 to July 1 in Bangalore. Short term liquidity measures and medium term stabilization policies of EU will not have any negative effect on trade between Germany and India. There are over 150 German companies operating in Karnataka at various levels and many more are coming.” The Competitiveness report also says, “If we talk about Karnataka outside Bangalore, connectivity, infrastructure and Education Development Index is very poor. Karnataka’s industrial policies and promises are good but on implementation front it is very poor.”
Mr K Jairaj, Addl Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, said, “It is not fair to say that Karnataka minus Bangalore is pathetic. Bijapur is very good example for horticulture processes. Power is real problem as the state does not have any fuel resources and all the clearances should come from central government. Our record of getting such clearances is zero. We invited tenders for three 700 MW projects and the response from the industry is very poor as they are afraid of fuel security.” Mr Jairaj added, “Industries and State government should jointly petition the central govt for fuel security. No state govt can survive for long if they do not develop tier 2 cities. We should move agro processing type of industries to hinterland. CII should play key role in SME sector as it is the major employment generator. Sickness and failure is very high in this sector.
Mr K Jothiramalingam, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, Government of Karnataka, said, “ 80,000 acres of land is notified for acquisition by the industries department. Acquiring land is not a big issue in Karnataka. On image makeover front, government guaranteed 113 services in a pioneering move. Industries department crated a system for speedy clearance of concessions and incentives. Facilitation act is being introduced in assembly for deemed clearance or time bound clearing of the projects.” Mr Raj Kumar Khatri, Secretary, Infrastructure Development Department, Government of Karnataka, said, “Creation of infrastructure facilities require private investment. State Government is bringing in more clarity in policy of Public Private Partnership, creating more capacity in the departments to interact with industry and working on institutional building. Getting industrial corridor for entire South India and aligning it with the gas pipeline will bring in enormous growth to the state.”
Mr Akash Passey, Chairman, Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd, said, “Karnataka has been a key manufacturing destination for the past three years, though the level of growth is not satisfactory. At least another 6 to 8 auto majors should come here to create an eco system similar to the one that nurtured IT industry. Level of political and bureaucratic openness is very high in Karnataka compared to other states, which is an encouraging sign to industry.” Mr Abhishek Goenka, Partner, BMR Advisors Pvt Ltd, said, “ Karnataka took a pioneering step in India by introducing VAT in 2003 and is doing very well on e-Governance front. Similarly, 2009, state welcomed GST, but steam lost now. On administration side, commercial taxes department can have a different treatment mechanism for Large Tax payers.” Mr L Krishnan, Vice Chairman, CII Karnataka and MD, Taegutec India Pvt Ltd, said, “For the next GIM, our policy initiatives will be driven by competitiveness and growth.”