BANGALORE: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the state government is committed to making Karnataka an ideal investment destination. He was addressing the national council meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bangalore.
“The government will address the contemporary needs of industry,” he told the audience, which included Azim Premji, Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej, Kris Gopalakrishnan, B Muthuraman of Tata Steel, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and GV Sanjay Reddy of the GVK Group.
The local heads of CII were on tenterhooks on Thursday, worried that the chief minister may not turn up. A week ago, he had not attended the AGM of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce (BCIC) where he was to be the chief guest, raising questions about his commitment to industry.
Fortunately for them, Siddaramaiah did. He made the expected statements, though his responses to questions left a lot to be desired and left the feeling that he was not very clued in. He said the state government had initiated various policy measures to facilitate investment across industries.
The chief minister said that the government of India had granted approval for setting up a 12,000-acre National Investment Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Tumkur. “We are also trying to get approvals for two more NIMZs at Gulbarga and Kolar.”
Infosys vice-chairman and CII president Kris Gopalakrishnan said Karnataka is one of the most progressive states in the country and CII is keen to work closely with the chief minister in “making the state a leader in all spheres of development”.
