From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Sep 26: While many governments around the world are grappling with low growth, Karnataka has been marching in the opposite direction with a US $158.9 billion economy growing at 7.6 per annum, said Karnataka's Large and Medium Industries Minister R V Deshpande describing the State as a 'Goldmine for Growth'.

Inaugurating the "State of State Conclave: Karnataka as Number One State," in Bengaluru on Tuesday, he said the State has experienced a radical transformation in terms of economic and social development due to significant development in infrastructure, power, road, water and the State's overall industrial ecosystem and investor friendly approach.

"Our focus has always been on providing momentum for imaging the State as the most industry-investor-friendly State in the country," he said.

While focusing on the growth, the vision of our government has always been to have a vibrant industrial sector in Karnataka with an objective to support and develop existing MSMEs; creation of new enterprises with a wide spectra of support to entrepreneurship, skill development and such other ancillary objectives so as to create a complete promotional eco system, the minister said.

The minister warmly complimented India Today on its original State of States (SoS) initiative since 2003 on creating a platform which facilitates a dialogue between civil society and representatives of Government and between scholars, thinkers, academics and leaders. The SoS survey has emerged as a benchmark for analyzing the performance of the provinces- the primary units of governance.

The Group's 'State of State Conclave' is a new initiative and is welcomed by our government. The "State of State" survey is a step ahead of the SoS survey and I am sure the Conclave will give us an opportunity to hear each other, to learn from each other and to take steps to help each other. It is a transformational platform for collective and shared action that we will undertake together as we pursue our domestic agenda and priorities, he said.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi's remarks, "The future depends on what we do in the present," Deshpande said Karnataka's dynamism presents a historic opportunity to invest now in the future and to advance Karnataka.
Deshpande explained that Karnataka accounts for a significant share in the total FDI that flows into India.

Karnataka has initiated several measures to create good connectivity along the length and breadth of the State. It is targeted to expedite Chennai-Bengaluru-Chitradurga Industrial Corridor (CBCIC) covering about 560 kms. and Bengaluru Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) with about 980 kms. to provide the much required connectivity for industry and business.

Karnataka as an economy is growing steadily and hence provides lot of opportunities of growth in transport and logistics sector. The setting up of the Multi Model Logistic Park in Karnataka is expected to help transition from the current situation of point-to-point freight movement to an ideal situation of hub and spoke model freight movement.

The State Government and 2030 Water Resources Group's (WRG) launched the "Karnataka Multi-Stakeholder Platform for Water" to Drive Large-Scale Transformation in Water Resources Management to meet the industrial sector water demand which is expected to triple by 2030.

Karnataka has attracted more than US $ 5.2 billion in FDI over the last one year, which makes it the 2nd best State in terms of attracting FDI in the country, he said pointing out that the State has attracted FDI of US $ 22.37 billion during the period of April 2000 to March 2017.

Karnataka was in the forefront in bringing out proactive sector policies. A wide range of fiscal and policy incentives for businesses under Industrial Policy, 2014-2019; Investor-friendly specific sector policies to promote industries such as IT, Biotechnology, Start-ups, Agriculture and Food Processing, Tourism, ESDM, Aerospace, Textile, Energy, Infrastructure. In January 2017, Karnataka introduced an NRI policy to attract investments from non-resident Kannadigas.

He said, "We have recently announced the Electrical Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy 2017, the first state to do so with a vision to make Karnataka has the ‘EV capital of India'. I am sure this policy would be game changer in the Industry and will be a model for other States.

Karnataka has entered into a phase of accelerated socio-economic growth over the last decade. Our transparent policies, investments in developing infrastructure, human capital development initiatives, technological advancements, good governance and progressive institutions have been playing a key role to make our growth inclusive, balanced and sustainable. Proactive measures and reforms have laid the foundation of a healthy climate in the state.

There is a plethora of lucrative emerging business opportunities for global partnerships in a wide range of sectors which can be leveraged to increase the growth trajectory of Karnataka, turning Karnataka into a global manufacturing hub, generating jobs and lifting incomes.

With the aim of ‘Building a better Bellary' development projects worth Rs. 1062 crore, set to benefit over 2 lakh citizens have been announced. On similar lines, another key step towards ‘Transforming Tumakuru', development projects worth Rs.773 crore across sectors have also been announced.

Recently, he said Karnataka's High Level Clearance Committee cleared four projects with an investment outlay of Rs 3,596 crore which is said to create employment for 3,842 persons. The investments are in the automobile, textile, chemical and service sector

Job creation is the government's priority and labour reforms now underway by amalgamating 44 central laws into just four labour codes is an important step in ensuring this.

Karnataka has generated 13.91 lakh jobs in the last four years and was inching closer towards meeting the government's target of creating 15 lakh jobs by 2019. Between 2013-14 and 2017-18, Karnataka has generated 12.03 lakh jobs in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and 1.88 lakh jobs in the large industries sector. Another 5.79 lakh jobs are in the pipeline, he said.

"We have worked very hard on the front of Ease of Doing Business and a series of administrative reforms have significantly improved the business sentiment in the State. These reforms and initiatives are all aimed at preparing Karnataka for the 21st century. They are aimed at transforming the State and making a New Karnataka," he said.
In the recent past, the State Government has introduced key initiatives across 5 major areas of Single Window, Land and utilities, Industrial Relations, Pollution Control and Commercial Taxes.

Information on land availability in industrial areas have been made online and easily accessible through the GIS-based system. We have created a new non-profit company "Invest Karnataka" to promote the state globally while Karnataka Udyog Mitra will continue to facilitate investments.

Karnataka can lead the world in the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the back of several pro-business reforms and MSME development initiatives and the government's emphasis on promoting the global competitiveness of MSMEs through simplification of business regulations, he explained.

The power of big data, high computing capacity, artificial intelligence and analytics will be used to digitize manufacturing in Karnataka. Karnataka's manufacturing sector contribution to GSDP during 2016-17 was 14.76% while the national average is 14% against the target of 25% by 2025.

Karnataka a leader in IT & BT and knowledge based industrial sector, now tops in manufacturing excellence with best manufacturing process ratio at 2.63 according to a recent study conducted by ASSOCHAM. Also, Karnataka accounted for over 10 per cent share with investments worth Rs 3.4 lakh crore in terms of manufacturing sector.

The minister said Karnataka is committed to lifting potential growth and to creating a more robust, sustainable, balanced, and job-rich economy. Bolstering today's actual growth and tomorrow's potential growth, while ensuring resilience and sustainability, is our utmost priority.

Deshpande said Karnataka plays a big role in Make in India as a large number of industries across sectors were situated in the state. It is also a preferred destination for OEMs looking for high quality intermediate products equipped with the latest technology and innovative features.

Karnataka is determined to build the ecosystem around Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) to make aware, assess, rate, counsel, handhold, re-assess and certify MSMEs and ensure that they rise up the ZED ladder, thus enhancing their competitiveness in the global marketplace.

"Our industrial achievements dates back to more than 100 years of development right from the time of India's First Hydro-Electric Project to the advent to space crafts and aircrafts to today's fast changing and evolving world of digital technologies."

Some of the key facts about Karnataka that makes its citizens proud, according to the minister, are:

- Contributes about 6.6% towards India's GDP of US$ 2.4 trillion
- 2nd highest per capita income amongst bigger states (55% higher than country average)
- Largest software exporter and 4th in merchandise exports
- More than US$ 10.4 billion exports in Electronics and Computer software which is about 38% of the India's share in electronic and software exports
- 4th highest FDI in the country – cumulative investments of about US$ 22.4 billion till March 2017.
- Accounts to 7% of India's cumulative FDI inflows
- Clearance of more than 500 projects worth over US$ 20 billion.