K’taks sets deadline for investors to submit project details

Karnataka government has set a May 15 deadline for investors, who signed pacts during the recent investors’ meet, to submit their project details to the state government.

“I am not going to wait for long, because I have asked senior nodal officers of these projects to get initial steps going. After three months, or by May 15, if investors had not taken steps to submit their application along with choice of location and details of land use to Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUM), I will treat them as not interested,” Industries Minister R V Deshpande said.

He told reporters here that the intention behind setting up the deadline was to attract investments and see all Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed, during Invest Karnataka 2016 Global Investors’ Meet, fructify.

“Why are we setting a deadline? We want investments.  We want all the MoUs to fructify and we are working in that direction. There is a time-limit for all these things.”

Deshpande noted that as many as 122 MoUs and Expression of Interests were signed across sectors, amounting to Rs 1.27 lakh crore investments.

As many as 1,080 projects with investments of Rs 1.77 lakh crore, with a potential to create 4.82 lakh jobs had been approved by single window agencies of various departments and the High-Level Clearance Committee, he said.

To a query on whether the industry captains had raised concerns on infrastructure issues in Karnataka to set up their units outside Bengaluru, Deshpande said government is trying to take all stakeholders - power, energy and developers among others - together.

He said Karnataka would add 2,500 MW power and also alternative power resources including solar, separately.

Deshpande said he had met power minister D K Shivakumar, who had informed him that 2,500 MW would be added by June-July. Solar and other alternative power also would be added, he had said.

“So the situation is not going to get worse, but only improve,” Deshpande said.

He said government was providing uninterrupted power to industries without resorting to load shedding.

The government was also addressing infrastructure issues, he said, adding that the talks with industry captains have been fruitful and successful so far.