By IANS,
Bangalore : The Karnataka government would set up three National Investment Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) across the state to become a preferred location for new industries, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Friday.
“The central government has granted approval to set up an NIMZ in about 12,000 acres of land near Tumkur. We are also trying to get approval for two more NIMZs at Gulbarga and Kolar,” Siddaramaiah told captains of industry at an interactive session here.
Tumkur is about 70 km from Bangalore, while Gulbarga and Kolar are about 650 km and about 100 km, respectively, from the state capital.
The NIMZ are being set up across the state to increase the sectoral share of manufacturing in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 25 percent over the next decade and generate 100 million more jobs in the sector through an annual growth rate of 12-14 percent, as envisaged in the national manufacturing policy of the central government.
“Though Karnataka is already an ideal investment destination in the country, we would like to position the state as a preferred location for new industries,” the chief minister said addressing at the two-day national council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) where about 100 top executives of India Inc are participating.
Noting that industry and services sectors played a vital role in the economy, Siddaramaiah said while the services sector contributed a whopping 59 percent to the state GDP, the manufacturing sector was lagging behind at less than 25 percent annually.
“Hence our focus will be on the manufacturing sector to increase its contribution to the state GDP substantially in line with the national manufacturing policy. We are committed to make the state a preferred destination for investments in diverse industries with attractive schemes and incentives,” Siddaramaiah asserted.
In this context, the chief minister reminded India Inc that the pro-active policies of successive governments in the state had led to phenomenal growth of knowledge-based industry in the state, especially Bangalore, as evident from the presence of global firms in IT and biotechnology over the last two decades.
“Global firms have made Bangalore their research and development (R&D) base to pilot next generation business models. This tech hub is also home to aviation and aerospace manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies in diverse verticals,” Siddaramaiah noted.
The state government is also partnering with the central government to set up the country’s first Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) near Devanahalli, about 40 km from city, in about 10,000 acres of land to expand and accelerate the growth of the knowledge sector, especially IT-enabled services and products.
Observing that the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) play a critical role by accounting for 45 percent of industrial output and 40 percent of exports, the chief minister urged stakeholders to promote the support sector for achieving the 12-14 percent growth rate envisaged in the manufacturing policy.
Assuring the industry of the state’s support in facilitating investments in the manufacturing sector, Siddaramaiah said the government would pursue a cluster approach for the uniform growth of the industry beyond Bangalore at Belgaum, Dharwad, Hubli and Mysore.
“Besides simplifying investment procedures, developing tier-two and tier-three cities and rural infrastructure, we will showcase Mysore (about 150km from Bangalore) as a major investment destination on the global map,” he added.