Karnataka rolls out red carpet for global investors

Karnataka on Wednesday rolled out a red carpet for global investors to invest in the state and make best use of its resources to create thousands of jobs and generate wealth.

Showcasing the southern state's strengths and resources at the global investors meet (GIM) here, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the World Economic Forum had identified Karnataka among top four innovation hubs worldwide and Bengaluru was ranked as the fourth largest global tech cluster after Silicon Valley and Boston in the US, and London.

"Karnataka is a $120-billion economy. Let us make it a $700-billion economy by 2035. If India aspires to grow at nine per cent, let us aspire to grow at 10 per cent," the chief minister said at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day GIM at the Bangalore Palace grounds.

Asserting that the state had high technology and skilled workforce, Siddaramaiah said 400 of the Fortune 500 firms had made the state their home and continue to invest in the state, especially in IT, biotech, science and technology, aerospace and start-ups.

"Bengaluru is the hub for IT, biotech, science and technology, aerospace and start-ups. Our rich talent pool, ability to envision future and make it happen through technology will attract investments from global and domestic firms," he said.

Seeking funds for the state in the upcoming union budget for 2016-17 to facilitate growth, he said the state government had come out with several polices to strengthen industrial growth across the state.

"We have resolved to strengthen industrial growth across the state through polices spanning industries, IT, textiles, agri business and food-processing, tourism and start-ups in IT, biotech and manufacturing sectors," he said.

In this context, the chief minister told the gathering -- that included central ministers, India Inc representatives, international delegates and investors -- that a global agency had ranked Bengaluru among the 20 start-up eco-systems in the world.

"We have taken a number of measures to promote ease of doing business across the state. We are also exploring an industry-government partnership entity to promote a host of services under the 'Invest Karnataka' brand," he said.