Bangalore, June 4 (IANS) The southern Indian state of Karnataka has bagged about 400 projects worth Rs.4 trillion ($85 billion) at the two-day Global Investors Meet (GIM 2010) in this tech hub.
‘We have signed a record number of 353 projects since Thursday and 47 more are due to be signed by late Friday, bringing in investment proposals worth Rs.4 lakh crore (Rs.4 trillion), with 8.65 lakh employment potential,’ Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
V.P. Baligar, industries department principal secretary, however, said some of the overseas investors had sought more time to sign the memoranda of understanding (MoUs), as they could not be present at the GIM.
‘Though their proposals have been cleared, a few of the overseas investors have asked for time to visit Bangalore for signing the MoUs. About 20 percent of the proposals account for foreign direct investment (FDI),’ Baligar told IANS.
About 3,000 delegates participated in the second GIM. Yeddyurappa said the overwhelming response had demonstrated the faith of investors in Karnataka as a premier investment destination in the country.
‘We had delegates from the world over, including Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia Saudi Arabia, UAE and the US attending the two-day mega event. Many of them have expressed interest to invest in key sectors such as infrastructure, urban development, power generation, port development,’ he said.
Of the 400 projects, 208 were signed on the first day of the GIM (Thursday) worth Rs.3.29 trillion (Rs.3.3 lakh crore).
Iron and steel sector attracted 38 proposals worth Rs.2.21 trillion (Rs.2.2 lakh crore), followed by cement sector with nine projects worth Rs.36,991 crore (Rs.370 billion) and energy sector with eight projects worth Rs.25,214 crore (Rs.252 billion).
The GIM generated so much of interest that the state government received 56 new projects with an investment of Rs.78,395 crore (Rs.784 billion) in the last one week.
‘We will consider these projects at the next high level committee meeting later this month. I am sure all these projects will be implemented as per the plans given by the respective companies,’ the chief minister said.
The state government has set up a cabinet sub-committee headed by the chief minister to sanction additional incentives on a case-by-case basis and depending on the quantum of investment.
‘We have a clear road-map for monitoring all the agreements in a time-bound manner. The implementation of the projects will be reviewed every month by the state chief secretary and once in three months by me,’ Yeddyurappa added.
