BENGALURU: Amid the recessionary trends in many developed countries, the Global Investors Meet (GIM) in Bengaluru, which concluded on Friday, attracted nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in investment, exceeding its expectations.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke to The New Sunday Express on the government’s plans to take these investments beyond Bengaluru, generate employment opportunities and encourage future technologies.
Excerpts:
Karnataka managed to attract investments during the GIM, despite recessionary trends in many countries. How do you look at it?
Basically, the GIM is an instrument where confidence is instilled in people who mean business and want to invest, especially after Covid-19, as the entire world scenario is gloomy. Most economically well-developed countries like the United States of America and many countries in the European Union are fighting inflation and also recession.
In any situation, there will be a certain amount of interest in investing in every part of the world. As a government, I see this as an opportunity.
At the moment, the governments in different parts of the world are not very sure of their growth. They don’t have the courage to go in a big way. They are fighting their domestic issues. I feel this is an opportunity for India, especially Karnataka.
If you want to scale up the business, then we have to do something big. During and after the Covid outbreak, the credibility of China has come down for various reasons. There are internal issues in China, too. The entire world is thinking of a China-plus-one strategy.
In this scenario, countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Korea have been taking advantage, but the scale of operation in those countries is too small for the world. India is the only country which can match China, in terms of scaling, technical strength and handling large investments. Karnataka is a very progressive state thanks to the Maharajas and successive governments.
The Government of India invested a lot of money in PSUs in the early 50s, 60s and 70s, and because of that, we have got very sound technology, skilled personnel and experts. A lot of investments have come in the defence sector to Bengaluru. This ecosystem is an advantage. With all this, we have to believe in ourselves and our capabilities and go forward.
Will the recessionary trends in many other countries have any impact on Karnataka?
For the first time, developed countries are facing this situation as normally underdeveloped and developing countries face such a situation. But the consumption level of the entire world is still the same, so they need somebody to produce for the world at the most economic price and most of the things were done by China.
Now, there are certain reservations about China for different reasons. Global gloom is not going to affect our economy and it brings a certain amount of opportunity.
How will these investments help people?
The whole aim of the GIM was on two to three fronts: To give a boost to economic activity in a big way and through these investments, we want to give employment generation the greatest impetus. Investments which can create employment are our priority.
We are the leader, but to keep up that leadership we have to have leadership in niche future technologies like hydrogen fuels, renewable energy, semiconductors, defence, aerospace, artificial intelligence and EVs. So, we have to keep up that leadership on all technological fronts. Then that advantage of the technology-driven state should continue.
How do you ensure that all departments keep pace with your speed and maintain momentum?
That is what leadership is all about. We have got definite plans. When we look at the previous GIM, hardly 32% of investment proposals were realised. Now, we have signed more than Rs 2 lakh crore in investments in the last 4-5 months and I have not stopped at that.
We spoke to investors and asked them to put up applications with requirements and detailed project reports. We will go through them, analyse them and clear them at the State High-Level Committee. We have taken proactive steps. I have given the mandate to our officers that in the next three months they have to clear all investment proposals. We do not want the MoU business to linger on for a long time. We have got a definite timeline, a definite plan for this. I will personally supervise the whole thing.
Now we are also planning to take it up sector-wise and give responsibilities to different departments to ensure that they are in tune with our thinking and speed. This time, it is going to be different. Proper coordination has already been established.
What about taking in investments beyond Bengaluru to other districts?
A lot of investors are showing interest in Hubballi-Dharwad, Ballari, Raichur, Mangaluru, Mysuru and other places. We are insisting companies come to North Karnataka and we are giving more incentives. For example, in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) cluster in Dharwad, we are giving such concessions that no state has offered.
Top-notch FMCG companies have already committed and some of them have started working on it. More than Rs 10,000 crore investment is going to come in the next two years and one lakh jobs will be created. So, we are pushing the industry beyond Bengaluru.
We are telling them that Bengaluru is already congested and there is no point in coming here. Here there are a lot of other problems than just having industries. But because of the technology, because of the skilled manpower, they want to come here. We want to decongest Bengaluru.
Will the proposed bill help more Kannadigas get jobs?
Earlier, the policy was to give reservations for Kannadigas in Group D posts. We want the reservation in Group B, C and D in all sectors and we will prepare and upskill Kannadigas. We are also coming up with a more comprehensive policy for skill development.
I am trying to integrate all our institutions. All these days, skill development was just to register some NGOs and others to develop skills. We have got ITIs, diploma schools and GTTC (Government Tool Room & Training Centre). In every institution, we are going to have a certain percentage of skill development courses twice a year.
It will be institutionalised skill development. Once that happens, the credibility of the skilled personnel will also go up and it will be easy for the industries to employ them. There are problems, but we have to have new ways of solving the problems. I am trying to find innovative ways.
Karnataka is contributing around 8.8% to the GDP. Is it proportionate to what we are getting in return?
We should understand the concept of the federal system. If you take the same yardstick, (in Karnataka) more than 40% of our revenue comes from Bengaluru. So, can you invest everything in Bengaluru? We have to take care of remote villages also. You should think of the state as a whole. If the entire country grows then our growth will also continue.
We are a contributor state because a lot of people invested here earlier and we have developed thanks to our hard-working people. The government has to ride two horses — efficiency and equity — at the same speed and in the same direction.
The BJP lost bypolls under your leadership. How confident are you of retaining power after the 2023 polls?
The byelections are fought on different issues, mostly local issues and all the CMs have lost bypolls. As far as my political leadership is concerned, the test is the Assembly election. I am fully confident that I will lead my party back to power (in the 2023 Assembly polls).
How is the response to your Janasankalpa Yatra?
There is a groundswell of response. We are fighting it on different issues. It is not only for the sake of politics. We are putting a development agenda, social equity and performance in front and people are responding to it. So, that will culminate into a great support base as a prelude to the election.
Bengaluru is the engine of growth, but its infrastructure is struggling to cope with the development …
We have to come to terms: On one hand every day thousands of people come to Bengaluru — the highest floating population in the entire country. The highest number of new vehicles, more than 5,000 vehicles, hit the road every day.
The size of the roads are the same, the bridges are the same. It is like going to a cinema hall to watch Amitabh Bachchan’s movie, if everybody wants to get a ticket, it is not possible. But having said that, we have to find solutions and for that, we should have the right kind of reasoning. Bengaluru was never planned.
The core Bengaluru is still good. It was planned right from Kempegowda’s time and even after that. But, many new areas, including 110 villages were merged into the city without any infrastructure. All the buildings that house IT/BT firms are located in those villages and many of them took permission from gram panchayats.
The only answer to all this is that we have to decongest the city with better mobility. We have been talking about it and there were some efforts, but it was not comprehensive. We have identified a few towns to develop them. I have even said that in the budget we will develop five new towns.
Out of five new towns in Karnataka, at least two new towns should come around Bengaluru. That is the idea and we are working on it. We have appointed agencies. If people feel that there is another Bengaluru, and people want to come to stay and work there, then we can decongest Bengaluru.
Many in your party call you a ‘Common Man CM’. What is that you miss about being a CM?
I miss being with my family, friends and even people of my constituency. I cannot go out like a common man. But, every position comes with some cost.
What will be the focus of the government in the next few months?
We have already issued orders for all the schemes, almost 95% of the schemes announced in the budget. We are also implementing most of the schemes which are very essential immediately and we are launching some schemes this month and the next. I want my budget proposals to be implemented and reach the people.
That is one part; the second is in the next 3-4 months the next budget is also coming. So the preparation for the next budget will also start. Simultaneously, we are trying to do both those things and we have to have a check on our finances both in revenue and expenditure and we are doing it on a regular basis.
You spoke of seeking suggestions from those who have received Rajyotsava awards in the past to develop the state. How do you plan to go about it?
We have not heard the voices of those people. Many people think about the development of the state and country. I will write to all of them seeking suggestions and we will prepare a document. I want to present it during Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana.
What legacy would you like to leave behind?
Every CM got his ambition to leave his footprints. Even I want to leave certain footprints. Some CMs are remembered for a policy or a public stand they have taken on different issues. For example, Ramkrishna Hegde is remembered for the decentralisation of power, though other things are there. Some people are remembered because of their programmes.
BS Yediyurappa is remembered for the “Bhagyalaxmi” scheme. If you want to have a long-term effect then fundamentally you should show as very progressive, but at the same time, that progress has to be justified in the right way and should be distributed in a just way. So, I want to be a reformer in administration. I should be remembered as a social reformer. I want to be remembered as a reformist.