With aerospace policy in hand, CM woos industry

Karnataka’s pioneering formulation of an aerospace policy for 2013-23, and Bengaluru’s robust share of 65 per cent in the country’s aerospace sector, were Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s marketing tools at the Aero India 2015 inaugural here on Wednesday.

Under the aerospace policy, Karnataka proposed to boost the aerospace infrastructure and offer incentives to the sector, Siddaramaiah explained.

Siddaramaiah saw a huge opportunity in the Maintenance, Research and Operations market, since several leading original equipment manufacturers and international airlines were outsourcing work to Indian firms.

He said the relatively low cost of aerospace manufacturing, multiplicity of defence public sector units and small and medium-sized enterprises put Karnataka at an advantage in the aerospace sector.

The Centre, he informed, had already approved a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone spread across 12,500 acres at Vasanthanarasapura in Tumakuru district. This is besides the sector-specific Aerospace Park at Devanahalli and the country’s first private Aerospace SEZ established in Belagavi.

With a total installed power capacity of 14,028 MW in 2014, the State proposed to become power surplus by 2017. He also referred to e-udyami, a completely online-based one-stop shop for all prospective investors.  This, he explained, would allow all investors, independent of their location, to apply for investments in Karnataka and monitor project status.

The new industrial policy 2014-19 encouraged Non-Resident Indian and Non-Resident Kannadigas’ companies to invest in the State.

An early seed capital fund and angel funding for start-ups in collaboration with NRI, NRK companies and organisations has also been proposed, he said.

Also in the pipeline were special industrial corridor projects such as the Chennai-Bengaluru-Chitradurga Corridor and the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor.