Unique step: Karnataka to woo foreign investors with cash

BEIJING: Karnataka is set to offer hard cash to foreign investors prepared to put in substantial sums of money in areas outside Bangalore. The state says it is going far beyond the incentives being offered by other states like Gujarat that are competing for moolah from overseas destinations, including China. "We will do all that is necessary to attract foreign investment. I have decided to visit foreign countries once every three months to bring in funds," chief minister B S Yeddyurappa said.

Murugesh R Nirani, minister for large and medium scale industries, listed several incentives being offered by his government to attract at least $42 billion (Rs 2 lakh crore) in investments in the coming months. "We will pay the cost of hiring unskilled workers for the first three years of operation of any new company ," Nirani said. The decision has been taken in principle by the government and will soon be announced.

The state will also give Rs 2 crore to the first two companies investing over Rs 50 crore in a taluk. The idea is to spread investments across all the 170 taluks of the state, Nirani said. Yeddyurappa and his team are visiting Beijing and Shanghai to attract Chinese investors to put up plants in exclusive industrial zones for sectors like steel, cement, automobile, power and information technology. He is also inviting them to attend a global investors' meet in Bangalore in January.

Karnataka has apparently learnt a lesson from Gujarat's success in grabbing the Nano project of the Tatas. Gujarat could offer a large amount of land to the Tatas as it was readily available. "We missed this and many such opportunities as we did not have a land bank at that time. Now, we have set up a land bank and we can even offer 2,000 acres if a company wants it," Nirani said. Nirani said his government has already acquired 21,000 acres of land and is in the process of acquiring another 29,000 acres.

"I have made sure that only dry land is acquired. We are offering developed land to farmers, whose lands are acquired for industrial purposes," Yeddyurappa said. This, he said, is why there have been no disputes during the acquisition of land. Karnataka is also luring investors with its innovative programme on Industrial Adalats.

Govt to pay cost of hiring unskilled workers for first three years of operation of any new company Give Rs 2 crore to first two companies investing over Rs 50 crore in a taluk Created land bank of 21,000 acres to give to industry when they need it. Acquiring another 29,000 acres Industrial adalats have been created to resolve government-related disputes quickly.