Old Rabita report on business opportunities in Karnataka A decision was taken at the Bhatkal Muslim Khaleej Council Mushawarati Ijlas held on July 20, 2004 at Bhatkal to find out investment opportunities in our district, i.e. the Uttara Kannada district, for prospective entrepreneurs among the NRIS and the Gulf returnees and provide them with necessary information. In pursuant to this, a committee, under the convenorship of the undersigned, was constituted to implement the decision. This was necessitated due to the fact that countries like Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman have started Arabisation of jobs in full steam. The policies of Arabisation are being vigorously adopted as laid out in the General Objectives of Development Plan of all the GCC countries. While Saudi Arabia has recently announced its plans to cut the number of foreign workers by not less than 100,000 every year, Oman has already started to omanise several sectors. A significant number of Bhatkalis in Oman are being eased out of targeted areas of employment. As the pace of Arabisation gains acceleration, a grim state of uncertainty stares at us. Now the question for the Gulf returnees is: Where do we go from here? Karnataka has been consistently pursuing progressive industrial policies to meet the changing needs of the state’s economy and industry. The New Industrial Policy 2001-2006 aims to encourage rapid growth of sectors and market in which Karnataka has strategic advantages. It intends to create a market-driven environment with the private sector being the primary engine for the growth. The undersigned and Yaseen Askeri, assistant secretary-general, Bhatkal Muslim Khaleej Council, undertook a trip to Karwar, our district headquarters, and had a very candid interactive meeting with the officials of the District Industries Centre (DIC), Uttara Kannada district. They appreciated our intentions and offered to render all kinds of support and cooperation from the DIC if any prospective entrepreneur from Bhatkal intends to start any enterprise. We met the following officials: 1. Gopal Krishna Bekal, Joint-Director, DIC 2. R. Raghu, Deputy Director, DIC and 3. D. Padmanabha, IPO, DIC. The State Government is too willing to assist the tiny, small and medium scale industries. As part of the human resources development it intends to promote a strong entrepreneurial base, through the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of Karnataka. The State Government’s Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUD) is the nodal agency to guide and provide assistance to the entrepreneurs as well as to obtain the required clearances/consent/approvals/registrations/licences from the various departments at the industrial stage of the project. In a determined bid to attract investors to Uttara Kannada district, the State Government is projecting the district as an attractive destination for business opportunities and accordingly a slew of incentives has been announced. There are eight fully developed industrial estates in the district. The district has been classified under ‘c’ zone (backward area). 144 kms of coastal line, 173 kms of Konkan Railway line, 329 kms of National Highway pass through the district providing excellent accessibility to the rest of the country. The district offers potential for investment in the following sectors: Tourism, horticulture, fisheries, power generation, biotech, IT-related, herbal medicine, gold and silver ornaments, food processing, handicrafts, floriculture, ceramics, infrastructure, etc. To support the new investments the State Govt offers excellent and attractive packages and incentives, like investment subsidy, NA conversion facility, incentives on ISO accreditation, etc. The Department of Industries and Commerce is the first department to introduce a total deregulation of business environment in the state. It means to simplify the regulatory framework to enable ease of doing business in the state. A two-day Coastal Investors Meet held on 20-24 December 2003 at Karwar was aimed at attracting investment for different projects in the district. There are good opportunities in the tiny and small industries sector. A tiny scale industry is one in which the investment in plant and machinery is less than 25 lakhs irrespective of the location of the unit. For tiny units, the State Government offers 15-25% subsidy after the start of the project. In Bhatkal taluk there are 400 tiny units, some of them are: electrical and electronics, clay bricks, ceramics, stone crushing, jewellery, bakery, flour mill, oil making, papad making, pickle, tyre retreading, garage, watch repair, general engineering, lathes, welding, carpentry, etc. Another two very lucrative investment options are ayurvedic plantation and eco-tourism. Besides, the subsidised loans can be obtained by Karnataka State Financial Corporation and other financial institutions. 100 % exemption from payment of stamp duty and registration charges is available for certain core sectors in our area. Investment subsidy, exemption from power cuts, exemption from payment of entry tax and sales tax payable on purchase of raw materials, components, packing material, capital goods, spares, consumables, etc are some of the incentives offered for the 100% export-oriented units. Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation Limited is encouraging entrepreneurs to venture in Karnataka by providing financial assistance and other allied financial services at competitive rates of interest, various forms of loans, other support services and also facilitates attractive incentives, concessions and tax holidays. The Karnataka Tourism policy aims at promoting tourism-related activities and enhancing employment and income generation. The State Government is giving a new thrust to promote tourism in the state. Developing coastal circuit in our district is on high priority with hotels, tourist resorts, cottages, wayside facilities on state and national highways, amusement parks, adventure/sea activity centres, dormitories, etc. being the key components for investment. The approval authority with regard to tourism is the department of tourism, Government of Karnataka. We have made some attempts to provide an overview of what the Government can offer and what are the key areas of investment. To get started one needs to follow the following points: 1. Identify a project. 2. Prepare the project report. There are people who can do this for you at a fee, or, the DIC does this for you absolutely free. 3. Approach the local civic authorities for necessary approvals. 4. Apply for provisional registration certificate with the DIC. 4. Start production. 5. Apply for permanent registration with the DIC. In order to bring entrepreneurial awareness and guidance an entrepreneurial workshop for prospective entrepreneurs should be organised at Bhatkal. The DIC is willing to support such a workshop. We suggest this should be done in July so that the NRIs can be benefited. Following are some of the useful addresses: 1. Karnataka Udyog Mitra, 3rd Floor, South Block, Khanija Bhavan, Race Course Road, Bangalore - 560 001 Tel: 91-80-2381232, 2286632, 2285659, 2282392 Fax: 2266063 E-mail: kum@kumbangalore 2. Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation Ltd., Khanija Bhavan, 4th Floor, East Wing, #49, Race Course Road, 3. Bangalore - 560001 Tel : 22258131, 22265927, 22282802, Fax : 22255740 E-mail: [email protected] 4. Karnataka State Industrial Investment & Development Corporation Limited, MSIL House, 36, Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560 052 Tel: 2258131/32/33, 2269188 5. Karnataka Tourism, No.49, Second Floor, Khanija Bhavan, Race Course Raod, Bangalore - 560 001 Tel: 2352828 6. Commerce & Industries Department, M.S. Building, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Raod, Bangalore - 560 001 Tel: 2252443, 2092447 7. Karnataka State Financial Corporation, No.1/1, Thimaiah Raod, Near Cantonment Railway Station, Bangalore - 560 052 Tel: 2250137 8. District Industries Centre (DIC), Bangarappanagar, Shirwad, Karwar Tel: 08382-282302, 282361 – Aftab Husain Kola Convenor, Entrepreurship Development Committee, Bhatkal Muslim Khaleej Council, Jeddah
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 06:47:20 +0000
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