BENGALURU: Karnataka has made light of efforts by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to woo investors at Aero India 2015.
On Thursday, Naidu invited investors to his state saying that Anantapur (in AP) is a mere 60 km from the international airport in Bengaluru and that it is easier to get there than to Karnataka’s capital.
Referring to Naidu’s attempts, Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee on Friday said Karnataka did not want to get into a petty competition.
“We do not have to compete with anyone,” Mukherjee told reporters at Aero India 2015. “There is no point in selling Karnataka to investors, as we are already ahead of all competition.”
Karnataka is not wooing investors by offering subsidies; instead, it is offering them full support in all aspects, he said. “We believe that if we offer good support to existing companies, they will provide us the needed publicity.”
Bengaluru, he said, is already the aerospace capital of the country. State government officials have held meetings with representatives from over 150 companies and over 25 big companies have approached the government during the air show. “This proves the state’s calibre,” said Mukherjee.
According to Mukherjee, the Centre has allowed the state to set up 10 intellectual property rights filing centres. “They have asked us to scout for locations for the centres. Currently, in India, there are just 38 such centres. Hence, we are looking at two-tier cities for setting up these centres as people will not need to come to places like Bengaluru for registering patents. Each such centre will be set up at a cost of `2 crore,” he added.
When asked about Karnataka’s aviation policy, and whether Telangana will also launch a similar policy soon, Mukherjee said since Telangana is also a part of the country, Karnataka need not fret. “However, it is known that Bengaluru is the preferred destination for investors. Karnataka’s aviation policy is in place. I would like to add that the policy will apply only to serious players. For instance, those who use the land that is allotted to them as real estate will not be allowed to operate,” he added.