Nearly a 1,000 entrepreneurs are expected to participate in the “Invest Karnataka-Hubballi Conference” being held in Hubballi on Friday with the aim of attracting investors to the northern districts of the State, including Hubballi-Dharwad.
Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, Minister for Large and Medium Industries Jagadish Shettar said that they have confirmation already from over 650 entrepreneurs and they expected that it would cross 1,000.
The Minister said that the officials of the Department of Commerce and Industries were in touch with the entrepreneurs who had evinced interest in participating in the event. According to him, during the evening session of the investors meet, there was a likelihood of 15 to 20 Memorandums of Understanding being signed with regard to new investments in the northern districts of the State.
The Minister said that entrepreneurs from Hyderabad had shown interest in investing in the Yadgir region where around 2,000 acres of land was available and Dharwad too was in demand. As far as Dharwad was concerned land was available at Mummigatti, Belur and Gamanagatti and they had arranged for vehicles to take investors on a site visit during the event.
To a query, the Minister said that entrepreneurs of FMCG sector from Guahati were interested in investing in Hubballi-Dharwad and the State government had decided to form FMCG cluster in the region.
He said that during Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s recent visit to Hubballi, he, along with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, had an initial round of discussion on developing a food park in the region and Baba Ramdev had responded positively.
Showcasing the region
Mr. Shettar said that during the event in Hubballi, the morning sessions would focus on showcasing North Karnataka to investors and experts from the region would make presentations on the scope for investments in the region.
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa would inaugurate the event at noon. He will be accompanied by Union Ministers Suresh Angadi and Pralhad Joshi, he said.
The Minister said that a Chinese delegation had met him evincing interest in investing in North Karnataka in the electric vehicles segment and their Indian representative would be participating in the event, apart from representatives from many bigger companies and industrialists.
Although the Minister did not specify the quantum of relaxation that would be given to investors, he said that bigger investors would be given better offers to invest in the region.
To a query, he said that the contentious issue of taxation and tax arrears of industrial estates across the State, which was estimated to be around ₹ 72 crore, would soon be sorted out as the government was all set to take a policy decision on the issue.
Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan, MLA Arvind Bellad and Police Commissioner R. Dileep were present.
