Karnataka competing for investments globally, not with other states: DCM

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Hailing the success of Invest Karnataka- 2025 summit as a reflection of Karnataka's strength, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said that the state is not competing for investments with other states or cities in India, but is competing at a global level. Speaking at the valedictory event of the summit at Palace Grounds, he said, "We are not competing among the states in the country. We are not competing with Chennai (Tamil Nadu) or Kerala or Telangana Hyderabad or Gujarat or anything. Karnataka and Bengaluru is competing globally.

That's our strength." Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, former Prime Minister of Greece, George A Papandreou, Union Minister of State for Railways & Jal Shakti V Somanna, Large & Medium Industries Minister M B Patil, and a host of ministers in the state cabinet were among those present in the event. Noting that several investment agreements have been signed over the last four days, the Deputy CM said, "The investors can believe in Karnataka, it never fails. You heard industrialists Sajjan Jindal and Anand Mahindra sharing their success story and singing praise for the state." "Investing in Karnataka is investing for the future. Investing in Karnataka is in the interest of businesses and the country. We aim to develop not just Bengaluru, but other parts of the state as well". "Our state is taking giant strides in aerospace and other industries. MSMEs are a big strength for Karnataka," he said, adding that Aerospace parts, including the ones used for space programmes of the country are made in Peenya Industrial area here.

Pointing out that the industries which started during former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's time have grown to become giants today, Shivakumar said, large corporations from other countries and India have come to Karnataka reposing faith in our policies. The new industrial policy encourages investment in other regions of the state as well.

"Karnataka has announced a new tourism policy under the leadership of H K Patil. The new policy envisages developing 300 km of coastal zone while preserving historic places," he added. Highlighting that it was late CM SM Krishna who started the concept of investors meet in the country, the Deputy CM said the Meet is a formal platform for investors to invest in the state.