Minister reaffirms that Karnataka believes in competition and transparency

Karnataka is always ready to welcome foreign and domestic investors with open arms like a family member. Stating this in his keynote address at the Plenary Session on ‘Karnataka – Surging Ahead’ on Day 2 of the three-day CII Partnership Summit being organised in Bangalore, Mr R V Deshpande, Minister of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, urged investors to take advantage of the immense growth potential that Karnataka offers to business.

From his experience of handling investments in Karnataka for over a decade, Mr Deshpande stated that Karnataka has the richest potential for investments. He pointed out that industrial liberalisation in the state and country brought about greater competition and transparency for investors. He said that Karnataka believes in competition and transparency.

Mr Kaushik Mukherjee, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, said in his address that there has been a sea-change in the IT software industry that is now increasingly focused on high-end design software development. He added that the state is making massive investments in physical infrastructure development, such as the elevated road linking Bangalore’s international airport.

Mr Mukherjee said that the state government is promoting industries that are environment friendly and do not encroach on lands meant for agriculture. The state is zealously protecting agriculture land, but to make available land to industries certain amendments to land rules are being undertaken. Mr Mukherjee assured the gathering that the state will also make single window schemes much more effective. He stated that the state is ushering in a transparent power grid that will provide impetus to generation of solar energy.

Mr Siraj A Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India Pvt. Ltd, spoke about the reasons his company chose Karnataka over any other state. One of the many challenges in agro business is to attract global capital to India. And this would be possible only if a state provided an ideal policy environment along with access to talent and technology. Karnataka had all that to offer.

Mr Soumitra Bhattacharya, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council, spoke about the ease of doing business in Karnataka where skilled manpower is easily available not just in Bangalore but also in the tier two cities in the state. 60% of Bosch workforce belong to Karnataka. Mr Bhattacharya said that Bosch is happy to be in Karnataka and happy to grow in Karnataka.

Mr B Santhanam, Chairman, CII South Region focused on the three I’s that makes Karnataka the hub of investment opportunity -- Institutions, Innovation and Inclusivity. Karnataka’s tryst with institutions is known worldwide as it houses world-class institutions of research, management and technical institutions.

Karnataka is home to innovations in the fields of infrastructure, manufacturing, IT and many more.  More than anything, Karnataka is an inclusive state where people from all over the nation come here to work, he said.

Mr Ajay S Shriram, President Designate, CII, talked about the wide range of industries that are centred in Karnataka ranging from animation, tourism, and textiles, to IT, education and health.