Rs. 2 lakh-crore investment expected in two years: Nirani

Rs. 2 lakh-crore investment expected in two years: Nirani

Special Correspondent

‘100 concrete proposals gathered from investors during recent foreign tour’

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Government seeks ‘early appointment’ with Ratan Tata

Tata Motors officials visited two sites near Dharwad

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Bangalore: Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani has said that the State is likely to get over Rs. 2 lakh-crore investment in the next two years.

Addressing presspersons here on Monday, the Minister said nearly 100 “concrete proposals had been gathered from investors” during his recent business tour of the U.K. and the U.S.

Mr. Nirani said the Government had sought an “early appointment” with Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, “to take forward the negotiations on relocating the Nano project to Dharwad.

Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce), V. Umesh, said Tata Motors officials visited two sites near Dharwad which could be offered by the State Government for the Nano project.

He said that while one plot was about 800 acres, the other was 1,000 acres.

He pointed out that the Government already had 500 acres in its possession, which could be made available for the Nano project immediately.

Consultants

Mr. Nirani said the Karnataka Government had hired the Infrastructural Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. (IL & FS) as consultants and adviser for conducting the Global Investors’ Meet in Bangalore on January 16 and 17, 2009.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) are partnering the Government to host the summit.

Mr. Nirani said Karnataka had “built up a substantial land bank” which was available for industrial use. “Farmers are not averse to selling their land, if the price is right,” he said.

The Minister said the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had been entrusted with the task of building the land bank. The KIADB’s legal cell would help in the hastening of the acquisition process, he added.

Mr. Umesh said the Government had already notified about 30,000 acres for acquisition across the State. “Of this, about 5,000 to 6,000 acres is already with the Government.”

He said farmers would be paid compensation at the market rate, and wherever possible, jobs in units that would be set up on land they had parted with.

“Alternatively, farmers are free to organise themselves into cooperatives in order to negotiate a better price for their land,” he added.

Dry land, especially that which could support only a single crop during the year, could be used for industrial purposes without any serious repercussions, he said.