Karnataka to get three new Special Investment Regions: Bommai

Karnataka is creating three Special Investment Regions (SIR) where all permissions to start business activities will be decentralised, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Friday, doubling down on the state’s potential to become number one in India and Asia.

Bommai was speaking at the Nava Karnataka Summit curated by DH Brandspot and PV Brandspot.

“I’ve done special investment regions. The entire region that we will demarcate and notify, all permissions there will be local. There won’t be any need to come to Bengaluru,” Bommai said. “This is the policy change we’re bringing in. There will be SIR in Tumakuru and Dharwad. We’ll do one for Kalaburagi. Later on, we will have more of them,” he added.

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Karnataka can become a $1 trillion economy, Bommai maintained. “Karnataka has got that potential. Take the renewable energy sector, for example. Solar and wind have become conventional within the renewable sector. The new things are hydrogen, ammonia and hydrocells,” he said.

Bommai said the government has signed investment agreements in the renewable energy sector worth Rs 2.6 lakh crore. “In the next two years, Rs 60,000-65,000 crore will be realised. All major players want to come to Karnataka to produce ammonia from seawater,” he said.

Bommai said his focus is on jobs. “It's not about the dollar we earn, but the number of people we engage in earning that dollar. We're a populous country. Our duty is to give jobs,” he said. “First the first time, we have an employment policy that provides more incentives if more jobs are created. I want more employment for my boys and girls. Only then can the lower middle class become middle class, the middle class semi-rich and so on,” he explained.

Bommai expressed confidence that Taiwanese giant Foxconn would set up its manufacturing unit in Karnataka. “They came the other day, saw the place, saw our policy and sought some concessions. We’ve agreed in principle. I’m confident Foxconn will come to Karnataka. The facility will create one lakh jobs,” he said.

Dharwad alone will get one lakh jobs thanks to an FMCG cluster that is coming up, Bommai pointed out.

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“We have simplified our industrial policy. There’s ease of doing business. A lot of things will be cleared online. Investments are coming for which we need to build new cities,” Bommai said. “I’ve decided to build six new cities in the regional centres of Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Mangaluru, Bengaluru and Mysuru,” he said.

Stressing on the need to drive investments towards other cities, Bommai said his government is pushing the Beyond Bengaluru concept. “Of the Rs 9.3 lakh crore investment proposals, Rs 4.5 lakh crore are outside Bengaluru,” he said.

According to Bommai, Nava Karnataka will have new education, new jobs, new R&D, sunrise industries and greenfield infrastructure. “I’m inaugurating the Vijayapura airport soon, which will help export grapes. Karwar naval air base is going to start. The Hassan airport will be ready in 1.5 years. I’ve approved the Raichur airport and works will start this year. We’re modernising the old Ballari airport. Almost all regions will have air connectivity,” he said.

He also said that his government is upgrading seven state-run engineering colleges as Karnataka Institutes of Technology on the lines of IITs.

Bommai hailed Karnataka as a state “blessed” with natural resources, but lamented that its true potential was not realised over the years. “There was no clear policy to address challenges or to utilise resources,” he said. “With 10 agroclimatic zones, we should’ve been Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra combined in agriculture,” he said.

Arguing for a more aggressive approach towards progress, Bommai said the Karnataka government and Kannagias must “seize opportunities”.

“I am sure, knowing the potential very well, Karnataka can become the number one not just in India, but Asia as well. And I'll certainly be there in whatever capacity to see to it that it happens,” Bommai said.