The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Next Global Investors Meet in Bangalore in June 2012

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Next Global Investors Meet in Bangalore in June 2012

Special Correspondent

It is likely to attract Rs. 10 lakh crore investment: Minister

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

S. Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, CII Southern Region; Aroon Raman, outgoing chairman, CII Karnataka State Council; Murugesh R. Nirani, Medium and Large-Scale Industries Minister; and S. Chandrashekar, chairman-elect, CII Karnataka State Council, attending the CII annual day in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: The State Government is planning to organise the next Global Investors Meet in Bangalore in June 2012, said Murugesh R. Nirani, Minister for Large and Medium Industries, here on Friday. Addressing members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the occasion of its annual day, Mr. Nirani said the next edition of the meet is likely to attract an investment of Rs. 10 lakh crore. Referring to the progress made since the last meet, which was held in June 2010, Mr. Nirani said that more than 200 projects, of the 389 for which investors signed memorandums of understanding with the Government, “are in progress”. Fourteen projects have been commissioned, he added. “We have appointed exclusive nodal officers to ensure speedy implementation of the projects,” he said.

Mr. Nirani said that he would meet American investor Warren Buffett when he is in Bangalore on March 23 to discuss the possibility of him investing in the State.

S. Gopalakrishnan, chairman, Southern Region, CII, said that economic growth and job creation are the “key challenges,” which require that the Government and industry work together. He pointed out that South India accounted for about one-fourth of the national Gross Domestic Product and about 27 per cent of the jobs. “Economic growth in the next couple of decades will put our social and economic infrastructure under great strain, for which we should be prepared,” he warned. “Innovation will be critical in meeting this challenge,” he said.

S. Chandrasekhar, who was, on Friday, elected chairman of the Karnataka State Council of the CII, said the availability of land, power and water for industries are “major concerns”. He urged the State Government to address the objective of achieving “100 per cent functional literacy in the State”.

The Government ought to do more to promote innovation that would enable power generation capacities in the State to be diffused so that capacities are closer to consumption centres. Observing that agricultural growth “has not been up to the mark”, Mr. Chandrasekhar said, “Greater innovation is necessary.”

Aroon Raman, outgoing chairman of the CII State Council, spoke.

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