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Karnataka CM to Head Overseas to Attract Investors to State

  • Chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda is gearing up for a roadshow in the US and Singapore to woo investors as part of his plans to make the Global Investors Meet (GIM), 2012, a grand success.The meet will be held in Bangalore on June 7 and June 8. Gowda, along with large and medium industries minister Murugesh Nirani, met captains of industries from various countries in New Delhi on Thursday as part of the campaign to promote Karnataka as an investment destination. Sources said three Australian companies expressed keen interest to conduct exploration and mining of gold in Karnataka.

  • The chief minister announced that he would soon tour the US and Singapore to woo investors to participate in the GIM. He expressed confidence of attracting proposals worth more than `6 lakh crore during the two-day meet. This would create more than 10 lakh jobs, apart from contributing to the state’s economic growth.Gowda met representatives of 14 Indian companies and six foreign firms. He also held a breakfast meeting with a US delegation, which consisted of 30 companies. He encouraged investors to invest in tier-II cities as they are equipped to offer the best infrastructure and other amenities. He added that the government was committed to providing a special package investment outside Bangalore.

  • Nirani said that over the last three years, the government had released 11 policies in relation to industries covering agri-business, wine, semi-conductors, SEZ, textiles, mineral, tourism, IT & ITeS and biotech. The most recent was the animation policy, which was released on Wednesday.

  • Raj Kumar Khatri, infrastructure secretary, said one of the priority areas had been infrastructure development and the state had started integrated development of corridors for intensive economic growth and infrastructure creation. He said the state would shortly introduce an infrastructure bill to facilitate, regulate, and mitigate risk in infrastructure projects. The purpose of this bill is to provide a legal framework for infrastructure development through public-private partnerships and to enhance confidence in potential investors, he added.

  • The GIM held in 2010 had attracted investment commitments worth Rs3.92 lakh crore. More than 7,000 delegates and 2,000 companies from 21 countries and 21 states attended the meet. The state government said about 62% of the MoUs signed during GIM, 2010, were in various stages of implementation, while 36 units had taken off. Another 36 are in various stages of implementation and 250 units are in the pipeline.

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