From being in the 11th position in terms of attracting investments during the BJP regime, Karnataka has galloped to the first position in the country in the last four-and-a-half years of the Congress administration, Minister for Large and Medium Industries R.V. Deshpande has claimed.
When it came to attracting investments, Karnataka was in the 11th position in 2013 before the Congress government came to power. “Now, we have crossed all hurdles and the State reached 5th and 4th place in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and occupied the first place in 2016 with an investment intention of ₹1,54,173 crore,” Mr. Deshpande said while addressing a press conference here on Saturday.
Karnataka retained the first position in 2017 (till November 2017) with investment intentions of ₹1,49,847 crore, accounting for 42.9% of the total investment intention in the country, he said.
Gujarat, which has been pushed to the second position by Karnataka, received investment intentions of ₹77,000 crore during 2017 (till November), Mr. Deshpande said, citing statistics published by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, government of India.
Karnataka also accounts for a significant share in the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that flows into the country.
“The State attracted more than $4.7 billion (₹30,420 crore) FDI during April–September 2017, which makes it the second best State in terms of attracting FDI in the country,” he said, and added that Karnataka was in the fifth position before the Congress came to power.
Claiming that the State generated 12.16 lakh jobs in the last four years, Mr. Deshpande expressed confidence that an additional 6.25 lakh jobs are expected to be created in the next two years, which will exceed the target of creating 15 lakh jobs by 2019 set by the government.
Between 2013–14 and 2017–18, Karnataka generated 10.28 lakh jobs in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and 1.88 lakh jobs in the large industries sector. “The rate of unemployment in the State has been brought down to about 2%, which is much lower than the national average of 3.7%,” he claimed.
The major projects approved by the government by the State-level single-window committees include Boeing, Havels India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Oracle India, IKEA, Wipro Aerospace, and Mahindra Electric Mobility.
Second capital
Mr. Deshpande, who has made out a case for according Bengaluru the status of the second capital of the country, is averse to Karnataka having a second capital.
He told reporters here there is no need for a second capital for Karnataka “as of now”.
Mysuru-Goa flights sought
Mr. Deshpande urged Air India to consider introducing flights between Mysuru and Goa.
On Saturday, Mr. Deshpande said he had discussed with the newly appointed chairman and managing director of Air India Pradeep Singh Kharola, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer, the issue of connecting Mysuru and Goa by air to promote tourism in Karnataka.
He also urged Air India to consider operating flights between Goa and Hampi.
Also, the State government is trying to open the Bidar airport to operate civilian flights. Mr. Deshpande said the State government is in talks with GMR Group, which built the international airport at Hyderabad, for relaxation of its condition against opening an airport within 150 km.
