Goa may invite Samsung to set up electronic manufacturing cluster: Parrikar

Goa could invite Samsung or other global electronic manufacturing giants to set up a manufacturing cluster in the state and 200,000 sq mts of land would be allocated to facilitate this, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Saturday.

Parrikar was speaking to reporters for the first time after his return from Delhi, where he met Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and briefed him about Goa's willingness to set up the electronic manufacturing cluster.

"We will allocate two lakh sq mts land for setting up of an electronic manufacturing cluster. They (central government) will be giving us Rs.50 crore to develop it and some electronic hardware manufacturer like Samsung or others will be brought in," Parrikar said.

The chief minister said that setting up of electronic manufacturing clusters was a part of the central government plan to beef up hardware manufacture.

"We (India) export software, but import all the hardware which touches almost 100 billion dollars," Parrikar said, adding that the central government initiative was driven to lessen the import bill and save on foreign exchange.

Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal has already announced setting up of one such cluster and Goa would be next, Parrikar said.