Telangana is keen on attracting South Korean companies in a big way and is willing to provide land for an exclusive cluster of such firms.
It will be a mini cluster, which apart from serving as a base for several Korean companies, will house residential localities, accommodation facilities and schools, Industries Secretary Arvind Kumar said on Wednesday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of ‘Korean Caravan in Telangana’, a programme organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the visiting 50-member delegation led by Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Cho Hyun. The Telangana government had first made the land offer at a meeting the Union Ministry of External Affairs had arranged sometime ago in which he along with Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma from the State and Korean government officials participated.
Focus partner
“That proposal is still there and today we are again offering them [land parcel],” he said, adding that the State was “hopeful of attracting Korean companies in a big way.” Members of the Korean delegation had been since Tuesday visiting sites and would continue to see more on Thursday.
“Our effort is to make South Korea a focus partner. Industries Minister [K. T. Rama Rao] will be leading a team to Korea before December,” he added.
Besides renewing the offer, the Industries Secretary wooed Korean investors by highlighting the comfortable energy situation in the State, plans to add 20,000 MW over the next few years, availability of land and infrastructure and initiatives aimed at improving the ease of doing business.
Almost a year after launch of TS-iPASS programme of time-bound clearances, the State government had processed 1,800 proposals and more than 800 of the projects had become operational, he said.
MoU signed
Senior Advisor to the government B. V. Papa Rao said cost of land in Hyderabad was comparatively low and the State was well connected by good roads.
Mr. Hyun said Korea could offer immense opportunities to India, especially in the context of new initiatives of the Centre.
On the occasion, Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation signed an MoU to strengthen trade and business, especially in areas of manufacturing, electronics and mobile industry, ICT, food processing, agriculture, pharma and life sciences besides aerospace and defence.
Confederation of Indian Industry Telangana chairman Nrupender Rao said Korean companies like Samsung, LG and Hyundai were household names in India.
