State tops investment proposals amid corona: Minister Jagadish Shettar

Bengaluru: State Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said the State ranked first in the country in terms of attracting investment proposals despite coronavirus pandemic related hardship. He said, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIT) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as many as 95 investment proposals have been registered in the State amounting to Rs 1,54,937 crore.

"This has made our State the first in the country in terms of investment proposals," Shettar was quoted as saying by his office in a release. He was speaking after inaugurating a webinar on "Procurement of cheaper electricity for industries through open access in Karnataka" organised by ASSOCHAM. The minister said that between August 2019 and December 2020, the State High-Level Committee and the State High-Level Single Window Clearance Committee have approved 410 new projects.

These proposals would bring in an investment of Rs 82,015 crore in the state, which would create 2,27,147 jobs, he said. Stating that efforts were being made to make the state an industrial friendly state in the country, Shettar said, Karnataka is self-reliant in power supply and the demand for electricity is increasing for sectors like EVs and data centres. There are ample opportunities for improvement in the state's energy sector, he said, adding that we are studying the usage of electricity in the industrial sector. The Minister said that the state was working with electricity supply companies (Escoms) and have identified things like cross subsidy surcharge and wheeling charges. "At present, we rely on grids for uninterrupted power supply and this is not possible due to technical problems," he said adding the problem could be overcome by building a new battery storage facility near the grids.