The Hindu : Karnataka News : Govt. is investor friendly, says Deve Gowda

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Sunday, Aug 01, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Govt. is investor friendly, says Deve Gowda

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JULY 31. H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) President, said today that the coalition Government in the State was investor-friendly, though efforts would be made to ensure industrial development across the State and prevent a concentration of industries in and around Bangalore.

Mr. Deve Gowda told presspersons here that certain forces inimical to the new Government were creating an impression that it was against industrial development and the development of Bangalore, and that there would a flight of industries from the State. He denied this, and said the State enjoyed a salubrious industrial climate and efforts would be made to foster it.

There were many applications for investment, and a Rs. 35,000-crore memorandum of understanding was expected to be signed shortly with the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, he said. He said that neither the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh; the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah; the Industries Minister, P.G.R. Sindhia; nor himself was against the development of the information technology (IT) sector as was being made out. The Government was only simultaneously encouraging other employment-oriented industries and agro-based industries.

The tax on computer hardware was to generate additional resources for the State and not to punish any sector. Efforts would be made to ensure transparency at all levels, which should enable the common man to easily judge the performance of the Government, he added.

Plea to industries

The former Prime Minister called upon the captains of industry not to be misled and, consequently, misjudge the new Government.

"This is the first time the State is having a coalition Government. There have been some teething problems, which have been sorted out. However, attempts are being made to spread false information and tarnish the image of the Government."

Mr. Deve Gowda said the IT sector should remember that it was the Janata Dal which gave a fillip to IT development in the State.

The Janata-Dal-led United Front Government at the Centre gave a 10-year tax holiday to the sector.

The concept of developing IT parks was promoted by the Janata Dal.

`I am hurt'

He said: "I have great respect for the IT majors such as Infosys and Wipro, which have contributed to growth. But they should also remember that they should give something back to society. I am very much hurt with what is being said — that the coalition Government is against the IT sector. It is false and baseless. If need be, we can sit together and clear the apprehensions, if any."

The former Prime Minister, however, made it clear that the IT sector should plan to expand to other regions of the State, and the Government would provide infrastructure. There would be no red-tape.

Meeting

Mr. Deve Gowda said he would meet the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, on Tuesday to seek relief for coffee and tobacco growers.

In a letter addressed to the Commerce Minister three days ago, Mr. Deve Gowda said the coffee industry had been facing an unprecedented crisis for the past four years owing to the fall in international prices of the commodity.

This had affected the livelihood of a large number of growers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Added to this were the hostile weather conditions, which had aggravated the problem posed by pests and diseases.

The Centre should announce a relief package for the coffee industry and focus on reducing the debt burden of the growers, he added.

Mr. Deve Gowda said that though steps had been taken to reschedule the debts of coffee growers with the introduction of a special term-loan package, they had to shoulder the burden of servicing the interest on the loans.

Poojary's comment

Asked about the opinion of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, B. Janardhana Poojary, that Mr. Deve Gowda should refrain from demanding a CBI probe into land scams, the former Prime Minister said he would not like to comment and that it was his prerogative to demand an investigation into "misdeeds."

"I also have no fear of facing an inquiry. All along my political career I have faced enough inquiries and will not be cowed down by such threats," he added.

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