Karnataka govt mulls industry-govt partnership entity

Bengaluru, June 29: The Karnataka government would explore setting up an industry-government partnership entity to make ease of doing business in the state more effective, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here today. "We have taken many steps in promoting ease of doing business in Karnataka," Siddaramaiah said.

"In order to make it much more effective, we will explore setting up an Industry-Government Partnership Entity, which can provide and promote a host of services under the 'Invest Karnataka' brand," he said.

Stating that Karnataka is being put on a high growth trajectory, the chief minister said the government focus is to ensure economic growth for each and every person in the state. "Our goal is to make our state highly prosperous. 'Invest Karnataka' is not an end in itself.

In fact, it is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of this great land. Our goal is to make Karnataka the growth engine of India," he added. Siddaramaiah was speaking at the 99th Annual General Meeting of Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on "Karnataka - A Pioneer in Make in India, Start up India and Digital India - Way Forward."

Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, had said in his budget speech that to promote industries in Karnataka, a non-profit company 'Invest Karnataka' would be formed for development of project proposals and market intelligence.

Industrialists and government officers would be on the board of the company, which would be managed by professionals, he had said. Karnataka Industries Minister R V Deshpande recently said a proposal to this effect would be soon taken before the Cabinet for approval.

Pointing out that Karnataka hosts nearly 700 Multi National Companies and a multitude of Fortune-500 companies, Siddaramaiah said in the last two and a half years, government had brought out several policies to strengthen industrial growth of the state like industrial policy, I4 policy, startup policy, among others.

PTI