Bengaluru, Feb 1 (IANS) Projecting Karnataka as a hot investment destination, the state government is set to announce mega projects at its fourth Global Investors Meet (GIM) here on Wednesday.
“We will announce mega investment projects on February 3-4 even as we hope to mobilise funds in the 116 infrastructure projects identified,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here ahead of the “Invest Karnataka” meet.
Though the Congress government has not set an investment target for the three-day jamboree, the chief minister is betting on getting over Rs.3 lakh crore worth investment proposals in diverse sectors, especially infrastructure, across the state.
“We hope to sign agreements for investments worth Rs.3 lakh crore at the GIM, which will be double of Rs.1.5 lakh crore worth projects approved during the last 30 months since our government came in May 2013,” said Industries Minister R.V. Deshpande.
The state received investment proposals worth Rs.99,605 crore during fiscal 2013-14 and 2014-15 and Rs.47,959 from April to December of 2015-16, with a total employment potential for 2.55 lakh people.
The state also stood second in the country in attracting $5.2 billion worth foreign direct investment (FDI) during the last two fiscals.
“We are also investing heavily in upgrading infrastructure facilities such as roads, highways, ports, airports, power, and water supply in tier-1 cities and tier-two towns and backward regions across the state for attracting investors with incentives and concessions,” Deshpande said.
The state is also showcasing at the GIM venue the various facilities it has built at industrial areas and dedicated parks developed across the state to attract investments in 14 diverse sectors.
“In addition to highlighting investment opportunities in 14 diverse sectors, we are making thematic presentations for the seven partner countries to explore joint ventures and collaborations in sectors of mutual interest,” Deshpande pointed out.
The seven partner countries for the event — Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Sweden — will participate in the GIM with their delegations.
The sectors are aerospace & defence, agri-business & food processing, bio-technology, energy, auto & machine tools, urban infrastructure, IT, tourism, electronics manufacturing, infrastructure, pharma and textiles & garments
“In view of space constraints and security concerns, we had to stop delegate registration on Sunday night after 3,700 of them registered online from overseas and across the country,” said Deshpande.
The state government has also set up three committees headed by the chief minister, the industries minister and the chief secretary (Arvind Jadav) for approving projects at various investment levels.
In the run-up to the mega event, which has been re-scheduled from November due to acute drought in many parts of the state following deficient monsoon, the state government had unveiled a five-year start-up policy to create a world class start-up eco-system, amended its textile policy to offer incentives and concessions to attract investments in textile parks across the state.