Bangalore - Annual Global Investors Meet

[vinblr]

Like Industry leaders, i too feel we need to appreciate Karnataka's BJP Govt led by CM B S Yediyurappa for organising a great event....

Hope all MOUS turn out into actual investments

[avinash2060]

Bangalore, June 4, (PTI)

Karnataka is poised to become the leading food processing hub in India, according to a FICCI-Yes Bank report, thanks to a strong and expanding physical infrastructure base, specific supply strengths and opportunities arising out of gaps in the food value chain.

The report, "Karnataka - An Attractive Investment Destination for the Food Processing Industry", released at the Global Investors' Meet here on Friday, reveals that monthly per capita food expenditure trends in the state follow the same pattern as the rest of the nation.

In urban Karnataka, while monthly per capita expenditure on low value food items like cereals and pulses increased by about 73 per cent and 102 per cent between 1993-94 and 2006-07, spending on beverages and processed food has increased by a massive 144 per cent.

"Clearly, the food processing industry is on the threshold of demand-led growth in the country and within the state of Karnataka," the report said.

It says Karnataka boasts of specific supply strengths, giving the state a comparative advantage to become a leading food processing hub of the country. With 10 agro-climatic zones and land topography highly suitable for agriculture, Karnataka is one of the most agriculturally diverse states in India.

It is estimated that about 83 per cent of the geographic area of the state is suitable for agriculture, of which 64.60 per cent is under agricultural cultivation.

Consequently, Karnataka is the largest producer of ragi, sunflower, tomato, coffee and arecanut and the second largest producer of maize, safflower, grapes, pomegranate and onion.

The state is also the largest producer of spices, aromatic and medicinal plants in the country. In addition, the state has a wealth of livestock and marine resources that augur well for processing of dairy, meat, fish and shrimp.

Karnataka, the report points out, also takes pride in having a strong and expanding infrastructure base for setting up food processing facilities in the state.

Karnataka has an excellent road network of about 52,000 km, a railway network of about 3,180 km, two major and eight minor ports, five domestic airports and two international airports. The state also has very strong agri-infrastructure, including 146 main market yards, 352 sub-market yards, 138 cold storages of about 0.4 million tonnes capacity and warehousing capacity of about 1.95 million tonnes.

These strengths are further augmented by policy-makers' efforts to promote development of supporting agri-infrastructure, especially through initiatives like crop cluster development, food parks, agri-economic zones and agri-SEZs among others, it said.
source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ding-food.html

[avinash2060]

Bangalore, Jun 4, (PTI):

Karnataka on Friday aggressively wooed healthcare providers by showcasing the state as an ideal investment destination with huge market and demand potential in various health related fields, including medical tourism and medical equipment.

"It is estimated that patients from 42 countries visit Bangalore to get treatment", Ramachandra Gowda, Minister for Medical Education said at the Global Investors Meet here on Friday.

"Karnataka is the knowledge hub of Asia. Bangalore has been ranked number two in existence of health facilities in the country in a research by National Population Stabilization Fund with the National Informatics Centre", he said.

Outlining opportunities in the healthcare and wellness sectors, he said there is a need to set up sophisticated super speciality Hospitals in all districts to provide the best treatment at affordable rates.

The hospitals need to have sophisticated equipment like high versions of Direct Digital Radiography, MRI machines, cyber shot cancer treatment equipment and CT scans, he said.

The minister said an estimated 12 per cent of the world's total business turnover is in the field of medical equipment. India, which has one sixth of the world's population, has ample opportunities in this space.

In the fast growing field of Ayurveda,Karnataka offers an advantage in terms of being a resource for herbs needed to produce such creams and oils in Ayurveda.

Karnataka plans to set up an exclusive healthcare city near Bangalore International Airport, which again spells out ample opportunities for investors seeking to invest in the state in the medical healthcare field, he said.

Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya said India produces among the largest numbers of doctors and nurses and medical technicians in the world.

Its investor-friendly ambience,availability of best medical equipment, high quality standards, rigid blood bank rules and medical visa for foreigners has seen growing investments in the field.

A supportive government and bureaucracy in Karnataka provided the right ambience for those looking to pump money in the state, he said.
source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...-wellness.html

[avinash2060]

The GIM has guaranteed direct employment to 26,000 people in the state’s healthcare sector. Eleven MoUs were signed on Friday in the sector, with total investment of Rs 4,500 crore.
Health minister B Sriramulu said: “We are facing problems in providing trained medical and paramedical staff. This is because of deficiency in service delivery. To solve this, we have launched schemes under PPP, providing the private sector a good opportunity for managing PHCs and government hospitals in the state.’’
Medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda said: “Bangalore comes second in healthcare service. This, as per a study done by the National Population Stabilisation Fund and National Informatics Centre. Soon, there’ll be an exclusive health city at the Bengaluru International Airport through PPP.’’
Four central locations in Bangalore have been identified for PPP — 250-bed hospital at Indiranagar; 10 acres at HRBR Layout; 10 acres at Magadi Road, Sumanahalli junction and at Banashankari. Preferential treatment will be given to patients from BPL families,’’ health commissioner D N Nayak said.
Narayana Health City chairman Devi Prasad Shetty said: “Karnataka provides phenomenal tax benefits for healthcare investors. With 39 medical colleges and a prestigious university like Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, there is adequate human resources. Favourable weather is another big factor for most medical specialists to stay on in Bangalore.’’
Pro-chancellor of Manipal University Dr H S Ballal said with 80% of healthcare service accessible in urban areas, more investment is needed in rural and backward areas.
Enough fodder for the mind
TEAM TOI
Food technology (FT) is bulkier and heftier than information technology (IT) and biotechnology (BT) put together. “For, the former already has a consumption base of over 1 billion multiplied by 3 — breakfast, lunch and dinner,’’ said V Prakash, director, CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute).
Given the sheer market potential of the space, a large number of entrepreneurs should foray into agro-processing. “Food security is critical; we are not talking about enzymes and chemicals. Everyone is health conscious. I request the state government to offer adequate handholding to small and medium food entrepreneurs,’’ he stressed.
Sajay Guhlot, director (food processing), Union ministry of food processing, said India’s GDP is expected to exceed that of Italy, France and Germany by 2020. The country’s food production is 856 million tonnes a year against US’s 608 million tonnes.
The state government is currently reworking the draft of the food processing policy; the cabinet is expected to clear it shortly.
source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[avinash2060]

An investment of Rs 4 lakh crore, 353 MoUs and 8.65 lakh new jobs. That’s the final tally at the end of the two-day Global Investors Meet(GIM) held in Bangalore. BS Yeddyurappa and his colleagues have much to cheer as they have achieved the objective with which they had held this ambitious meet attended by the ‘who’s who’ of India Inc and over 5,000 delegates.
Tucked away in fine print was the fact that BSY’s colleague, tourism minister Janardhana
Reddy’s company Brahmani Industries, emerged as the biggest investor at GIM with its proposed 6-million-tonne steel plant at an investment of Rs 36,000 crore easily outstripping L N Mittal’s more-hyped Rs 30,000-crore project, also in Bellary. Korean steel giant Posco, virtually out of the race before the GIM as the state government and the company couldn’t agree on terms, is back in the fray having signed an MoU for another 6-million-tonne steel plant.
The CM said he would review the progress every quarter, and chief secretary S V Ranganath every month. The government is signing MoUs with banks to provide financial support. While the mega MoUs had been signed on Thursday, Friday saw proposals for a World Trade Centre at Devanahalli being made by an Emirati consortium. The IT sector saw a clutch of MoUs being executed proposing Rs 40,000 crore of investment. The automobile sector also saw a lot of action with investments flowing into many sub sectors. A detailed project report on mono rail was submitted to the CM as many are willing to finance the project.
While the GIM ended on a high note, Bangaloreans will mourn the end of the two-day event as it will be lights out after two days of continuous power supply. The GIM would be a real success if all the investment results in power outages become history.
source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[avinash2060]

The hope of Bangalore to be home to the tallest tower in the country is still alive. This hope to construct more than 100-storey World Trade Centre (WTC) comes from Abu Dhabi, home to Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world. A delegation from the UAE led by NRI industrialist B R Shetty involving Omair Al Dhaheri, chairman of MIDIEN Holdings, Syed Khali, Group executive director and Mustafa Galadari Group, who participated in the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), presented the blueprint to CM Yeddyurappa.
“We are clear that our venture will not be in the Race Course. The Abu Dhabi based company has evinced interest near BIA and the tower will be modelled on the lines of Burj Khalifa,’’ Shetty told The Times of India.
source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[avinash2060]

Bangalore: With the number of travellers who take to the skies rising steadily, the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) is set to get a second terminal soon. The Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) has submitted a proposal for the construction of the second terminal to the state government. Tourism and infrastructure minister G Janardhana Reddy made an announcement to this effect at the Global Investors Meet (GIM) on Friday, and said that the government would work towards clearing the proposal at the earliest.

The Board of Directors of the BIAL recently approved plans for the expansion of passenger Terminal 1 at the airport. Presenting plans for improving air connectivity in the state, Janardhana Reddy said that airports are being developed at Hassan, Shimoga, Bellary, Bijapur, and Gulbarga under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Mysore and Mangalore airports have already been upgraded, and 13 airstrips will be developed in 13 districts, the minister said.

Heli-tourism from August

Efforts to set up an ambitious heli-tourism project are all set to yield results. At the GIM on Friday, Oasis Airlines Limited signed a MoU with the state government to start the heli tourism project from August this year. Tourism minister Janardhana Reddy said that Oasis Airlines would start with four helicopters, and the fleet would gradually be augmented. In the first phase, the Hampi- Badami-Aihole corridor would be connected with helicopters that serve tourists, and the tour would be four days long.

Mono rail report ready

As the metro construction progresses, the government has also considered the need for feeder services to the metro. The state government has decided to offer mono rail connectivity in two phases to serve those who would need to get to the metro stations. In the first phase, 31 km will be developed at a cost of Rs5,600cr; in the second phase, 15 km of mono rail would be laid. Sumitra Iyengar, director-infrastructure, Geodesic Techniques, on Friday submitted a detailed project report (DPR) on mono rail connectivity to infrastructure and tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy.

The first phase of the mono rail corridor will start from Hebbal and end at JP Nagar, along the western portion of the Outer Ring Road (31 km); in the second phase, the rail will extend from the Peripheral Ring Road to the toll gate along Magadi Road (9 km). The proposed alignment directly links (approximately) four metro stations one railway station (Bengaluru Central) and both Lalbagh and Cubbon Park.

Fresh tenders for Bidadi township

Bidadi, one of the five townships being developed by the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) got a fresh lease of life on Friday as the state government issued fresh tenders. August 30 is the last date for filing applications.

The township is set to come up on 9,000 acres of land near the Bangalore-Mysore highway. It is expected to reduce congestion in Bangalore. Ramanagar, Sathnur, Solur and Nandagudi were the four other townships first proposed by the HD Kumaraswamy government. The Bidadi township project was put in cold storage after DLF Building India, which won the bid for the development of the township in 2007, withdrew and took back the Rs400 crore deposit as the world economy went into recession in 2008.
source:http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/re...nataka_1392123

[avinash2060]

The tone for a new world and new method of computing was set on Friday. And the government was willing to travel the extra mile to make it a reality

Commitments to the tune of Rs45,500 crore was made at a session on the IT sector at the GIM.
Ashok Kumar Manoli, principal secretary, department of IT, BT, Science and Technology, said that the Centre had approved the ITIR (information Technology Investment Region) near the Bengaluru International Airport in Devanahali.
“ITIR will be an integrated township with walk to work facilities and will be only 12km from the airport,” he said, while calling the project a “magnet of attraction”.
Minister for IT & BT Katta Subramanya Naidu assured improved infrastructure in the city. Addressing the session, he revealed his dream: “Bangalore should be able to capture one fifth of all IT-related work globally in a few years.”
The new world was the theme of the many speakers. Delivering the keynote, Kris S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director of Infosys Technologies, said Bangalore needed to be part of a new world of computing – pervasive computing (a system where almost every device has computational capabilities).
Harsh Manglik, chairman and geography managing director for Accenture India, and chairman of Nasscom termed Bangalore as a talent magnet. He said that there were about 2,000 technology-related companies in the city.
Infosys would investment Rs 710crore in the ITIR, creating 12,000 jobs, while Manyata Developers Limited would build service apartments and an IT&BT Park with an investment of Rs1,880 crore. The park was likely to generate more than a lakh jobs.Other companies which signed MoUs on Friday included Wipro (Rs477crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs650 crore) and Chandra Developers Pvt Ltd (Rs459.98crore).
source:http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/re...sector_1392133

[ashwinsna]

Originally Posted by R2IChennai

Most of the investments are meant to come, GIM is just an event to showcase it to the world to attract attention. I am glad to see so much investment happening in North Karnataka.

I Agree.

[ChennaiIndian]

Originally Posted by avinash2060

you may be from Andhra Pradesh, but Reality is Andra Pradesh is stuck by a CIvil War property prices are falling only a fool wud Invest there,Karnataka has more conducive Environment which is peaceful and where skilled Man Power is easily Available,Karnataka and Kannadigas are known for their Hospitality

Yes, as long as you don't demand jobs for locals (by quoting the huge difference between the jobs being offered to locals and others), we will call you the most hospitable guys .

[ChennaiIndian]

Originally Posted by gentem

Over 95% of investments beyond Bangalore



Successive state governments in the past five-six years have tried to spread development beyond Bangalore, with little success. But this time around, industry thinks it could be different.
Sujit John | TNN

Times Of India 01-06-2010 p20
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/
More than 10k crore are marked in red.

The bulk of the investment is around the steel industry. Some other non-IT ones are textile, gas pipeline infrastructure etc. Naturally these places are outside B'lore because they are driven by that need. I would say the 'real spread' of the industries in KN will only be justified if B'lore's core industries like IT, BT, aviation etc. are setup outside B'lore.

[gentem]

No point is spreading aviation/BT kind of niche industry.. which is small industry compared to steel/cement/IT. Out of 4 lakh crore bellary alone receives 1.7 lakh crore.

As for IT, mangalore/mysore/hubli have to compete with hyderabad/pune/chennai. Only bangalore can deal with those biggies In fact for other industries than IT bangalore is too costly to work out.

Originally Posted by ChennaiIndian

Yes, as long as you don't demand jobs for locals (by quoting the huge difference between the jobs being offered to locals and others), we will call you the most hospitable guys .

Only unskilled labor should give priority to locals. In case if we demand skilled job for locals only, then quality will fall and will lead to loss for the investor.

[gentem]

Karnataka Tries To Best Gujarat

Karnataka is rolling out the red carpet for investors today in an effort to divert the limelight from — and ultimately topple – Gujarat as India’s favorite investment destination, according to state officials.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2...-best-gujarat/
By Rumman Ahmed
wsj

[avinash2060]

Rs 3.92 lakh crore promised for State
GIM: Govt yet to make details of MoUs public
Bangalore, June 5, DHNS:

The State government signed 361 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with investors, who promised to invest a whopping Rs 3.92 lakh crore in the State during the two-day Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) held at Palace grounds.

However, what these MoUs were about has been a nagging question for one and all, a day after the GIM.

The government refused to disclose any details of any of the MoUs.

“MoUs differ from each other. It depends on the kind of project and cost...We cannot disclose those details at this juncture,” said Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani said.

Some of the prominent companies that signed MoUs with the State government are ArcelorMittal, POSCO, Reliance, Brahmani Steel, Rajashree Cements, Wipro, Infosys, JSW Group, Shell and HAL.

Incentives?

Has the government promised special incentive package to top companies for investing in any specific sector in the State? Are these MoUs in the interest of the State? Will the local people benefit from these MoUs? These are some of the questions that needs to be answered.

As many as 3,900 companies across 18 countries and 21 Indian states participated in the GIM held at Palace Grounds in Bangalore. Companies from the US, UK, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, Singapore, China, Switzerland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Israel, Canada and Netherlands also participated.

As many as 7,600 delegates took part in the two- day meet, stated a release

[avinash2060]

Bangalore, June 5, DHNS:
source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...cise-cong.html

State Congress leaders have criticised the BJP government over the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), as well as for taking on the Governor over mining issue.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Saturday, Congress leader Siddaramaiah said the Yeddyurappa government had lost its image due to rampant corruption in its administration, power shortage and slow pace of development. In order to cover up, the government conducted the GIM.

The government instead of focussing on building houses for the flood-hit victims has wasted a month in preparing for the GIM, Siddaramaiah added.

There are capitalists in the BJP Cabinet. There was no need to conduct the GIM. It was an event held to primarily facilitate the family members of ministers Janardhana Reddy, Murugesh Nirani, Govind Karjol and others to sign MoUs with the government, Siddaramaiah alleged.

No land for real estate

Siddaramaiah said that land acquired from farmers should not be clandestinely used for real estate purpose. Going by the investments shown on paper, at least 2 to 3 lakh acres would be required for establishing industries.

The food production in the State has come down drastically due to shrinkage of agriculture land, he pointed out.

The Congress is opposed to acquisition of fertile land for industries. Ore deposits in the State should not be looted. A survey should be conducted to assess the requirement of land, insisted senior Congress leader.

At a separate press conference, Congress leaders V S Ugrappa and K C Kondaiah took exception to the remarks made by State BJP President K S Eshwarappa against Governor Bhardwaj.

The Congress leaders said that the Governor was trying to uphold the law of the land and protect natural resources. The governor has done a right thing by referring the complain against Janardhana Reddy to the Election Commission.

[Euromast]

Typical opposition. nothing constructive.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Karwar: To the disappointment of many in Uttar Kannada, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for the projects worth of thousands of crores of rupees have been passed for North Karnataka region, but not a single project for Uttar Kannada district has been passed in the Global Investors' Meet.

Read more here.

I think Tadadi project is on. Also Birla is investing on Harihar project?

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Buoyed by the emphatic investor response to Karnataka, leading banks have pledged to dole out over Rs 40,000 crore as funds to the Global Investors Meet (GIM) projects, bank officials told Financial Chronicle. The amount could get bigger as investment plans get firmed up.

The two-day mega event, held after a decade, attracted unprecedented confidence from Indian business groups such as Tatas, Birlas, Ruias and global leaders like ArcelorMittal, POSCO and Nestle. Boards of financial institutions have already given in-principle approvals to lend over Rs 40,000 crore to the projects that are expected to create over 8 lakh jobs and add fuel to the state's economic cylinders.

A C Mahajan, chairman and managing director, Canara Bank (Karnataka’s largest lender), said that the bank's board has approved an initial amount of Rs 20,000 crore. “Sky is the limit practically. The Rs 20,000 crore is only the beginning. The Rs 4 lakh crore projects will need much more (with some mega projects expected to have much more debt funding),” he said. State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, has earmarked Rs 5,000 crore for Karnataka projects. “The bank is expecting these funds to be used in less than 3 years”, Arundhati Bhattacharya, chief general manager, State Bank of India said. Government officials said that the debt portion for steel and energy projects, which have attracted nearly Rs 3 lakh crore of investment commitments could require around 60-75 per cent of the amount in debt. “Big-ticket projects will see a consortium of banks joining hands. This is a reason we have signed MoU with over 20 financial institutions,” said a top state government official.

M S Chalapathi Rao, general manager, Andhra Bank, said his organisation has earmarked Rs 2,500 crore funds for GIM projects. “Financial closure and assistance will not be a problem as majority of the proposals have come from renowned companies with proven track-record. We might revise the amount higher in future,” he added.

Officials from Syndicate Bank as well as State Bank of Mysore said that they have approved Rs 6,000 crore each for the GIM projects. Representatives of Axis Bank, IDBI Bank and Indian Bank disclosed that ‘substantial’ amounts have been given in-principle approvals for the GIM projects.

The state government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to sanction additional incentives.

mydigitalfc

Shree Cement to invest Rs 2000 cr in Karnataka

[ChennaiIndian]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/benga...-prospects-960

Bengaluru, June 4: There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the energy department as its power pitch to lure investors for the proposed gas based projects in the state at the Global Investors Meet resulted in as many as 135 Expressions of Interests by prospective investors on Friday.
But the state has to first tackle associated problems such as fuel, high LNG costs and more importantly making sure the proposed gas pipeline in Karnataka is completed on time.
Having given out the project outline for the two state based gas based projects in Bidadi and Tadadi (Karwar), Mr Jaamdar said the state was taking a huge risk banking on the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to complete the pipeline project by March 2012.
“We have been hearing that Karnataka will get the gas pipeline for over a decade now. But it hasn’t materialised. GAIL says the pipeline will be completed by March 2012. Keeping that in mind, the 1,400
MW plant has been proposed in Bidadi,” said Mr Jaamdar.
The only respite for KPCL is that GAIL has finally agreed to pay compensation (commitment charges) if the project isn’t completed on time.
Putting all concerns to rest, GAIL marketing director Prabhat Singh said the pipeline would be completed on time.
“Around 60 people are presently working in Karnataka and so far we have received 14 tenders. The final tender will be awarded by July, and by October we will start the work,” he said. The state has invited private participation for the proposed 3,000 MW of gas based power projects at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore. Three 700 MW plants will be set up at Belgaum, Davangere, and Gadag districts, while 900 MW have been offered on “merchant power” basis to be developed by private parties.

...

[ChennaiIndian]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/benga...port-deals-966

Bengaluru, June 4: Scomi Geodesic of Malaysia has come forward to build the Mono Rail in Bengaluru using the Swiss Challenge Method, according to infrastructure and tourism minister G. Janardhan Reddy.
Jupiter Aviation and Logistics has bagged the Hassan airport, and the Maytas have been given the job of building the Gulbarga airport. MoUs were also signed for the Tadadi and Haldipur ports at the Global Investors Meet(GIM) on Friday. The Bidadi Integrated Township Project (BITP), which has been approved by the government, received several queries from interested investors during the GIM, which saw infrastructure bag an investment of nearly Rs 1,900 crore.

...