SDCCI to soon organise business summit at Shivamogga

‘Objective is to make optimum use of resources available in the district’

The Shivamogga District Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SDCCI) has approached Ernst and Young, a global consultancy firm, to attract industrial investments to the district, said its president D.H. Arun.

The district is rich with natural resources. There are several institutions of higher learning to make quality man power available. The chambers would like to accelerate the economic growth of the district by making optimum use of natural and human resources here, Mr. Arun said at a press conference here on Thursday.

The Ernst and Young had played a crucial role in the success of Vibrant Gujarat, a business summit organised by the Gujarat government. The chambers was looking for investments in the fields of information technology, business process outsourcing, textiles, automobile components manufacturing and food processing, among others. Representatives of Ernst and Young, who visited the city, had been apprised of the huge reserves of natural and human resource available in the district. The chambers had requested the Ernst and Young to draw up a comprehensive report on the investment opportunities in the district and apprise the investors in this regard. The chambers wsas also planning to organise an investors' summit at Shivamogga on the lines of the Vibrant Gujarat, he said.

Of the 60,000 sq. ft. work space available in the Information Technology Park established by the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (KEONICS) near Shivamogga, only 30,000 sq. ft. was being used. At present, six firms are functioning there. The chambers would hold a meeting with the Keonics officials in February first week to ensure full occupancy in the IT park, he said.

B.S. Yeddyurappa, MP and national vice-president of BJP , said that since 2006, major infrastructure development projects like widening of roads, construction of airport were taken up in the district. As a result, firms like Xchanging, an IT and BPO firm, and Shahi Exports, a textile firm, established their units near the city. The Xchanging and Shahi Exports have a workforce of more than 1,000 each, he said.

At present, educated youths in the region were migrating to Bengaluru for employment. If more firms like Xchanging and Shahi Exports were established here, this exodus could be arrested and provide a boost to the economic growth of the region, he said.

The district has rich reserves of natural and human resources: Arun

‘Only 50 per cent of the 60,000 sq. ft. space available at IT park is occupied’