BENGALURU: With credit rating firm ICRA pushing Indian growth rating into negative territory, with a forecast of -5% growth rate for this financial year, and the economy continuing to flounder, the Karnataka government is working on strategies to attract investment. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar and Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar held a meeting on Thursday, to instruct a team of bureaucrats led by Chief Secretary Vijay Bhaskar, to work on bringing investments home.
Yediyurappa, who attended the World Economic Forum meet in Davos, Switzerland, before the Covid-19 outbreak, and had laid down ground rules to bring in more investment, asked officials from the industries and commerce ministries to come up with tangible proposals to bring in more investment into the state. This meeting assumes significance since the state on Wednesday decided to put off the Global Investors’ Meet.
The CM later told the media that they were working out strategies to bring in investments. He added that about three-fourth of the 6.5 lakh MSMEs and other industries that had shut shop due to the coronavirus outbreak, had resumed production. He claimed that this would provide the government the stimulus to accelerate efforts and bring in more investments.
He also raised the issue of implementation of the amended Land Reforms Act, and said it had eased the process of doing business in Karnataka. Experts, however, said this model was already available in other states. The CM said the state government has taken important measures to seize more investment opportunities, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestions to states.