Karnataka needn’t compete with others for investments with subsidy offers: Industries Minister M B Patil

Industries Minister M B Patil said on Wednesday that Karnataka did not require to offer subsidies, just for the sake of competing with other states to attract investors.     

The state had the required talent pool, industrial ecosystem and a conducive environment to attract investments and did not have to bank on subsidies to woo investors, the minister said. 

He was addressing a press meet here, following his return from the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

Patil said that the state had, over several decades, built a legacy of its own in attracting investments as it housed many prestigious institutions like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). 

“We are ahead of the other states in many areas like building expertise, talent pool, educational institutions and medical institutions of excellence,” the minister said. 

But Patil clarified that the government was open to offer incentives to attract critical industries like semiconductor or other emerging technologies.

“We have a cabinet sub-committee, which will decide on the quantum of subsidy for such sunrise and anchor industries,” he said in response to a question, asserting that no company would exit the state or shift from here. 

On his Davos trip, the minister said the state had signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs), for a total investment of Rs 23,000 crore from tech giants like Microsoft, Hitachi and Webwerks.

He said Webwerks, a data hosting company, signed a MoU worth Rs 20,000 crore to establish a 100-MW data centre near Bengaluru, having a potential to create 1,000 jobs. The project may be implemented in a year’s time, Patil said. 

Tech giants Microsoft and Hitachi have signed MoUs, focusing on improving digital skills development and promoting economic growth in rural areas, respectively.

When asked about the ‘declining inflow of investments in the state,’ the minister evaded a direct reply, but asserted that attracting investments was a continuous process and the state was attracting investments regularly. 

He maintained that though his recent US visit was criticized for not signing a single MoU, the state was able to attract investments worth a whopping $1 billion within a short span. 

“Investments worth $2 billon are in the pipeline. There is no dull moment in attracting investments,” Patil said.