Dubai: As a prelude to the Global Investors Meet “Invest Karnataka-2016” scheduled to be held from February 3 to 5, 2016, a road show was conducted in Dubai on 25 October, 2015 to showcase Karnataka as a preferred investment destination to the prospective investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region.
The delegation was led by Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Tourism, Government of Karnataka R.V. Deshpande, along with Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka Kaushik Mukherjee, for Industrial Development, Govt. of Karnataka Gaurav Gupta and Commissioner and senior officers of Department of Industries and Commerce, Karnataka.
Minister Deshpande addressed the prospective investors and mentioned the investment opportunities in various sectors like manufacturing, aerospace and defence, infrastructure, tourism, health tourism, agro & food processing, energy, etc. He also mentioned that even before liberalization, Karnataka had the presence of multi-national companies.
“Karnataka is rich in human resource and youth population. Indians are the largest investors in the UAE and have contributed for the exponential development of the region including Dubai. It is time now for Indian fraternity to invest in India and specifically in Karnataka. Out of 75 billion dollars investment assured by the UAE during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dubai, 25 billion dollars can be invested in Karnataka, he said.
“Karnataka encourages investment through sector specific policies like Industrial Policy, Tourism Policy, Textile Policy, Infrastructure Policy, etc. The State is shortly coming out with Startup Policy and Agro-Food processing Policy. A Startup Council will be formed”, he added.
He also emphasised the measures taken by the State Government in improving ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the State. He invited the industrialists/businessmen from the UAE to participate in the Invest Karnataka-2016 and invest in Karnataka.
Gaurav Gupta, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of Industries and Commerce, made a presentation on the potential investment opportunities available in various sectors like Manufacturing, Aerospace and Defence, Infrastructure, Textiles, Agro & Food Processing, Renewable Energy, etc. in the State. He mentioned that every effort would be made to materialise the investment proposals by providing time bound and quick approvals
Kaushik Mukherjee, IAS, Chief Secretary, responded to the questions raised by the participants and clarified the concerns raised by the participants in respect of Energy projects, Environmental clearance issues, tourism in coastal region, etc.
Dr. B. R. Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, NMC Healthcare, UAE Exchange, Neopharma, expressed that Karnataka has tremendous potential for investments and he himself was in talks with the Govt. of Karnataka for investment in Tourism sector. He encouraged potential investors to invest in Karnataka.
T.P. Seetharam, H E Ambassador of India to UAE, who was present during the Road Show, expressed that time has come for the UAE to invest in India and that Karnataka has lot of potential for investments.
