Karnataka to hold GIM from November 3-5

Large and Medium Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said the state government will organize the global investors’ meet (GIM) from November 3 to 5 in Bengaluru. The event had been earlier postponed from January due to the economic slowdown.

Addressing the members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), Shettar said the Invest Karnataka, Hubballi will be held on February 14. The roadshow held in this connection in Mumbai recently was a big success. The government held meetings with captains of Indian industry that included Chandrasekharan, Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group among others.

“The industrialists have shown keen interest to invest in northern parts of the state such as Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi and Kalaburagi regions and they have decided to send a team to Hubballi in order to assess the infrastructure facilities available in north Karnataka,” Shettar said.

Responding to queries raised by members of FKCCI, the minister said that the government has decided to encourage setting up of industries in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to decongest Bengaluru. “If someone wants to set up industry only in Bengaluru, we will not discourage them totally. But our idea is to promote industrial development all over the state,” he said.

Stating that many litigations pertaining to land acquisition, electricity, trade license, etc are pending in various courts across the state, he said the industries department will hold “industry Adalat” in every district. All those who are having litigations can participate in such adalats and resolve their issues, he said.

New industrial policy

Shettar said the new industrial policy will be announced next month. “The draft is being prepared after obtaining suggestions from industry chambers, departments of finance and urban development. The policy introduces regional authority, provides concessions in GST and other facilities for small scale entrepreneurs, he said.

He said that there is confusion regarding methods of tax collection at City Municipal Council, Town Municipal Council and Gram Panchayat level. Deliberations are on to introduce uniform tax policy in order to clear confusion, he said.