Before investments poured in at Invest Karnataka-Hubballi Conference, professionals and successful entrepreneurs from North Karnataka made attempts to impress upon the participating investors to invest in the districts of North Karnataka by giving presentations about the advantages of investing in the districts of the region here on Friday.
In the open session of the event before the formal inauguration, Vice-Chancellor of KLE Technological University Ashok Shettar spoke on the investment potential of the region. “There is a misconception among industrialists that barring traditional industries, there is no scope for mega industries in North Karnataka districts, which is totally wrong. There are immense investment opportunities in the region,” he said.
Prof. Ashok Shettar said that technology firms Sankalp Semiconductors and Navya Biochemicals were already functioning in the region and had clearly highlighted the strength of North Karnataka. Moreover Hubballi-Dharwad and Belagavi had the potential to develop as future mega cities. The region, which had hundreds of educational institutions, produced thousands of engineering graduates every year, he said.
Chairman and CEO of Aequs India Pvt. Ltd. Arvind Melligeri said that there was no dearth of talent in North Karnataka. Establishment of mega industries with long-term investment would attract talented youths and help prevent brain drain.
Elaborating on his own experience while setting up an Aerospace SEZ in 250 acres of barren land in Belagavi, he said that now no aircraft in the world would be ready to fly without auto components from Belagavi. He also spoke on the proposed establishment of a toy cluster in Koppal and the scope for toy industry in the country.
On the advantages in investing in North Karnataka, P.B. Ananda Padmanabh of Shahi Exports said that his company would be setting up units in Gadag, Dharwad, Ballari and Belagavi districts of North Karnataka and planned to create 12,500 jobs in the coming years.
Managing Director of Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. Sandeep Singh spoke on how the plant of Tata Hitachi in Dharwad had developed and said that it was now contributing to 60 % of the revenue of the company.
CEO of Deshpande Foundation Vivek Pawar elaborated on how the foundation was training youths in different skills and also on the scope for investment in the region in various sectors, including farm products.
Welcoming the gathering, Principal Secretary of Commerce and Industry Gaurav Gupta said that the event had raised new hopes for industrial development among the people of the region. Commissioner of Industrial Development Gunjan Krishna made a presentation on investment opportunities in various districts of North Karnataka.
