Aiming to position Karnataka as a best-in-class investment destination in Asia for future technology and advanced manufacturing, the government has initiated several strategic initiatives that will attract investments worth Rs 1.40 Lakh Crore per annum, a whopping jump of 75% over the current level.
Over next five years, the government intends to grow at the rate of 15-16% and achieve higher contribution of industries sector towards the Gross State Value Added (GSVA). In the period under review, the state has been receiving investments worth Rs 80,000 crore annually.
The government’s focus sectors are aerospace & defence, electronic components, core manufacturing, warehousing & logistics, electric vehicles, textiles, semiconductors, space tech and med tech among others.
To achieve this goal, the Government of Karnataka plans to announce a new industrial policy very soon that will help position the state as the most preferred investment destination in the country.
The Strategic Investments Committee under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of Large and Medium Industries Shri M B Patil has been set up to guide the industries department to attract investments to the state. Nine Vision Groups have been set up in Aerospace & Defence, ESDM, Auto/EV, Machine Tools, Pharma, Core Manufacturing, Industry 5.0, Textiles and Green Energy sectors.
“Our government has initiated several measures to make Karnataka an industry-friendly state. We aim to create a conducive environment for all the sectors to flourish. Measures like reconstitution of IKF Board, formation of a strategic investment committee and constitution of nine sector-specific vision groups will help make Karnataka a most-preferred state for investors,” Shri M B Patil, Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka said.
Some of the big-ticket investment proposals received by the state government include Foxconn, IBC, AMD, Qualcomm, Applied Materials, Marubeni and Tata Technologies among others.
“We have a robust lead pipeline of investments worth Rs 50,000 crore,” Patil said.
To attract investors towards focus sectors, the government has taken measures to create world-class industrial infrastructure. It is setting up ready-built factories, industrial parks/ clusters, and common facilitation centres. It has digitised the E2E application and approvals process and provides real-time visibility of KIADB land banks. Among other measures, the government is enabling industry-academia collaboration and upgrading its polytechnics with the latest equipment and infrastructure.
Innovative strategies
The Government has initiated several pioneering measures to sustain industrial growth. These include the recently concluded delegation visit from the Department of Industries to the US. During the visit, the delegation met representatives of technology, semiconductor, electric vehicles, aerospace and healthcare giants in the US, apprising them of investment opportunities in Karnataka.
The Strategic Investment Committee under the ambit of the Invest Karnataka Forum (IKF) is another example of out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the government, as it looks to enhance the State’s reputation as an investment hub. In its reinvented avatar, IKF will gain from the participation of stalwarts across the industrial sector, including core manufacturing businesses.
To boost its industrial sector CAGR, the government has constituted a nine-sector vision group — textiles, pharmaceuticals, defence, machine tools, ESDM, automotive/electrical vehicles, core manufacturing, emerging technologies, Industry 5.0, and green energy — to drive pan-sector development. These vision groups will also be responsible for taking forward the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ initiative to exploit promising opportunities in other districts of Karnataka.
Advantages Karnataka
Karnataka has six key offerings that make it the most attractive investment destination in the country. It has investor-friendly policies with multiple financial incentives to create favourable cost economics and a readily available industrial ecosystem including land.
The state has a highly skilled and trained labour workforce, along with a robust skill infrastructure and subsidies. The state boasts of a well connected to demand centres and gateways with an efficient logistics network. The state government has revamped processes to facilitate Ease of Doing Business. The industrial ecosystem is well supported by world-class social infrastructure.
