Karnataka eyes over Rs 20,000 crore investment in MSME

Karnataka eyes over Rs 20,000 crore investment in MSME
6 JUN, 2012, 08.49PM IST, PTI 

BANGALORE: The Karnataka Government is looking at over Rs 20,000 crore investments in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in this year's two-day Global Investors Meet (GIM), which started here today. "About 8,000 companies are participating in GIM 2012 and we are looking at over Rs 20,000 crore investments in MSME sector," a top government official said. 

The meet was inaugurated by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda. Best part of the current GIM is that many participants are cluster-based companies like plastic, packaging, machine tools, medical equipment, precision engineering, areospace and pharma among others, the official told reporters. 

Companies from Mysore have committed an investment of Rs 12,000 crore and those from Belgaum Rs 2,000 crore, he said, adding Rs 4,000 crore investments would come from companies based in Hubli-Dharwad and Rs 1,000 crore from Dakshin Kannada district. Industries in and around Bangalore have committed an investment of above Rs 5,000 crore, the official said. 

Besides, there was good participation from states like Gujarat, Punjab, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha among others, an official, who declined to be quoted, said. More than 30 countries including Italy, Japan, Mexico, UK Cannada, Taiwan and Germany, among others, are participating in the meet, the official said. Some of the key participants in the expo are JSW Group, Honda two-wheelers, Grasim, Suzlon, Gail, Zuari Cements, SBI, Tata Motors, Toyota Motors, L&T, Indian Oil Company, HAL, NAL, DRDO, Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited.

Tata Motors plant at Dharwad comes on stream

Tata Motors plant at Dharwad comes on stream
6 JUN, 2012, 03.42PM IST, PTI

BANGALORE: Tata Motors' Dharwad plant for small commercial vehicles is now operational and has begun to produce the Tata Ace Zip and the Tata Magic IRIS. P M Telang, Managing Director - India Operations, Tata Motors said, "This move is integral to Tata Motors' dominant presence in the Commercial Vehicles market." Launched in May 2011, Tata Magic IRIS is a four-wheel, 3-4 seater small passenger carrier, positioned as an alternative for commuters who depend on three-wheelers. Tata Ace Zip, also launched in May 2011, is a micro truck with a payload of 600 kg for deep-penetration door-to-door goods movement, the company said in a statement.

US Merrimack Valley to study Hubli rural development models

US Merrimack Valley to study Hubli rural development models
The Hindu BusinessLine HUBLI, JAN. 16:

The successful social entrepreneurship models and concepts of Hubli Sandbox will be incorporated in Merrimack Valley Sandbox, said Mr Todd Fry, Executive Director of Merrimack Valley Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Sandbox is an environment where fresh ideas get incubated and build a meaningful relationship with like-minded peers, learn from senior leaders and gain access to opportunities that will help them grow.

In north Karnataka, the Deshpande Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (DCSE) has been operating Hubli Sandbox, which comprises five north Karnataka districts – Dharwad, Belgaum, Gadag, Haveri and Uttar Kannada.

In the US, Deshpande foundation has helped Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts, including Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill to develop and enhance an innovation eco system in urban areas.

A team of some 30 professionals from Merrimack Valley are in Hubli to participate in the “Development Dialogue-2012” and, thereby, learn from the successful experiments done by various organisations in the sandbox region.

Mr Fry said the team was in Hubli to understand the underlying strategies adapted by the organisations in their successful ventures.

To a question on whether they would be replicating the successful models, he said that they were not looking at replicating the models as the features of the Merrimack Valley Sandbox region were totally different from the North West Karnataka sandbox region.

“Here Deshpande Foundation is running a LEAD (Leaders Accelerating Development) programme, under which, young leaders take up social projects and we have a similar programme running in our region. What we plan to do is to understand the strategies and try to adapt them to address issues in our region”, he said.

Mr Fry clarified that they would not be interested in taking up philanthropic activities as there were already several such initiatives going on in US. “We will be focusing on higher education and high schools. The stress will be more on capacity building”, he said.

The Senior Programme Manager of the Centre, Mr David Parker, said that the objective of their visit was to not only to learn from the successful initiatives but also to help social entrepreneurship initiatives in the Hubli sandbox area.

The President of New Brunswick University (Canada), Mr Eddy Campbell, already Pond-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship had been set up by the university to take up similar work like Deshpande Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in Hubli.

“We are looking at creating more opportunities for the youths”, he said.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

Quality education is your visa to the world: N R Narayana Murthy

Quality education is your visa to the world: N R Narayana Murthy
TNN | Jan 16, 2012, 05.45AM IST

HUBLI: Infrastructure and resources will always follow the good leader and entrepreneurs should inculcate leadership qualities, said chairman emeritus, Infosys Technologies, N R Narayana Murthy.

He was speaking at the Developmental Dialogue-2012 programme, organized by the Deshpande Foundation here on Sunday.

Murthy said social entrepreneurs should have clear objectives and it is very important to create a road map for the next five or ten years.

While working hard towards achieving their goal, entrepreneurs should also make it a point to spend their time with family and friends.

"Work is important, and equally important is to spend quality time with your loved ones," he said.

He hailed the Deshpande Foundation for its good work in bringing entrepreneurs under one roof and providing them a platform to exchange ideas.

TiE Hubli president Naveen Jha felicitated Murthy on this occasion.

Speaking at the 'Yuva Summit' organized by the Deshpande Foundation at BVB Engineering College campus on Sunday, Murthy called upon students to develop a competitive edge to face the challenges of globalization.

"Nothing will prepare us better than education. Good quality of education is the only visa of the world, and we have to have the passion and determination to achieve our goals," the IT czar said.

Nagamani, Vijay Mane, Vinay Patil, Umesh Chikkodi Kunal, Shruti, Viresh and others were awarded as 'Best Leaders'. Shrikant Joshi from Jain College of Engineering, SM Hegde from MES College and Deepak were awarded with Best faculties.Institute of Management Education and Research, Belgaum, KLE Society's MBA College of Belgaum, Global Business School, Hubli, Institute of excellent in management science, Tarihal, Hubli have awarded with Best entrepreneur award.