R Guru Prasad
By attracting investment of rupees 7.6 lakh crore and a potential to generate 15 lakh jobs, the prestigious event of the Karnataka Government, Global Investors Meet 2012 (GIM 2012) concluded on June 8 in Bengaluru with a grand success. Huge investment generated in the two day event of the GIM 2012 brought pleasant surprise to the Government which had expected to garner six lakh crore maximum. The hard work of the Karnataka Government in motivating industrialists around the globe through road shows in US, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, Mumbai, Delhi, Coimbature etc., has paid dividends in the form of excess investment. Generating big investment when the whole world is experiencing economic slowdown has added a feather to the BJP Government. 
Automobile and Aerospace, Agro and Food Processing, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Education, Energy, Industrial Infrastructure, Information Technology, Mines and Minerals, Textiles, Tourism, Transport Infrastructure, Skill Development, Urban Infrastructure, were some of the sectors for which investors from around the globe has committed to invest and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) / Expression of Interests (EoI) with the Karnataka Government at the GIM 2012 held at Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre on June 7 and 8.
Subodh Kant Sahai, Minister for Tourism, Government of India, in his speech mentioned that tourism is the only sector which generate more jobs to all sections of the society. He said, “I want more and more investors to choose the thriving tourism sector which is risk free and fetch good returns. There is a demand for 2 lakh hotel rooms.” He congratulated the Government of Karnataka for organising a wonderful event and said that Karnataka followed the Gujarat model to execute GIM.
It is remarkable to note that in addition to rupees 7.6 lakh crore investment, 1.68 lakh crore of investment was received as Registration of Interest (RoI) for the infrastructure sector. Going against the conventional way, MoUs/EOIs signed at GIM 2012 for the projects to be implemented all over the State rather than Bengaluru centered. 
Leading business men of the country were seated on the dais of GIM 2012 during inaugural ceremony on June 7. Among them were Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of GVK Group GVK Reddy, Vice Chairman of Tata Steel B Muthuraman, President and CEO of GE John Flannery, MD and CEO of Larsen and Toubro K Venkataramanan, Chairman of Welspun Group BK Goenka, CMD of Bharat Forge BN Kalyani, MD of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Hiroshi Nakagawa, Chairman of JSW group Sajjan Jindal, CMD of ONGC Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD of Suzlon Energy Limited Tulsi R Tanti, Chairman of Future Group Kishore Biyani, CMD of Jindal Alluminium Dr SR Jindal, Head of Karnataka ICT Group 2020 TV Mohandas Pai, President and MD of General Motors India Lowell Paddock.
To enhance inclusive growth and employment generation within the State, the Government of Karnataka has formed a Karnataka ICT Group 2020 under the leadership of TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman-Manipal Global Education Services. The mission of the group is to increase ICT exports to Rs 4 lakh crore and create additional 12 lakh jobs by 2020. It should be further noted that there will a Financial City on 50 acres of land near Bengaluru airport, first State in the country to promote nano park on 100 acres, famed Indian Institute of Sciences will locate its second campus at the proposed Science City in Challakere, are some of the initiatives of the Karnataka Government. Conducive atmosphere attracted investors to participate actively in GIM 2012.
Government assured the investors that it is committed to help investors to set-up their project through a high level weekly review meeting by a committee led by Chief Secretary SV Ranganath and a monthly meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda to sort out any problems arising due to inefficiency of officers in various departments to grant required infrastructure to start the project. “You can call me on my mobile if you face any problem” the CM told investors. To make the things easier, CM declared appointing a relationship executive from the Government for each MoUs signed. “Our relationship executive will take necessary steps to clear any hurdles and you are assured to get all the co-operation from our Government,” the CM reassured the investors.
Soon after the concluding session, the beaming Chief Minister said “The Global Investors Meet has been organised as a focused endeavour to realise Karnataka’s vision of achieving sustainable economic development, increase in employment levels, better livelihood, balanced regional development and environmentally sustainable long-term development, as outlined in our Vision 2020. I am happy to say that through the success of GIM 2012, we are on the right track. We look forward to strengthen partnerships with our investors in our mutual quest to achieve enhanced and wide ranging interactions and initiatives in the future.”
As part of demonstrating specialty of Karnataka an exhibition GIM Expo 2012 was inaugurated on June 6, 600 exhibitors displayed their products and services in ‘14 Focus Pavilions’ which focused on manufacturing, technology, lifestyle and services.
The State Government had organised the First Global Investors Meet in 2010 to showcase Karnataka as a leader among Indian states, had received investment commitments worth Rupees 3.92 lakh crore. While 39 projects of GIM 2010 have been implemented, 277 projects are under implementation. However GIM 2012 has clearly managed to double the investment of GIM 2010.
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