The Karnataka government is reaching out to global companies such as Tesla and is in talks with several countries to set up manufacturing bases in the state. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 as part of a panel on the Bengaluru Tech Summit, Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said that the government was working on attracting more investments to the state.
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"We have been speaking to each and every player, including big names such as Apple and Tesla, although Apple is already functioning here. We are talking to Asian countries and numerous developed countries to establish their base in Karnataka," he added.
"Most companies do not want to depend on one country for manufacturing post the COVID-19 crisis, and their destination should be Karnataka. Our government is reaching out to all ambassadors, embassies, delegations visiting Karnataka with the commitment that this will be best place for ease of doing business," he added.
Karnataka has held discussions with electric vehicles major Tesla to encourage it into setting up a base in the state. However, the Maharashtra government has also been actively reaching out to the Elon Musk-led company to "invite" them to the state, as per a recent tweet by Shiv Sena Teslaeader Aaditya Thackeray.
The Karnataka minister said that the government has taken multiple initiatives in recent months to attract investments and is pushing for projects beyond Bengaluru.
"We want to extend beyond Bangalore and ensure we tap potentials everywhere. People should adopt technology at every level every day in every field," Narayan said.
EV Ramana Reddy, Principal Secretary to Karnataka chief minister, who was part of the panel said the state has been working with the industry and academia actively and has taken several industry-friendly policy measures over recent years.
"The state was the first to come out with IT, BT and startup polices. We recently amended the Industries Facilitation Act, which entails no government clearances are required for three years. We have brought land and labour reforms as well," Reddy said.
"The Karnataka Innovation Authority has been set up. We have also set up the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission which will have major stakeholding from industry associations while the government will fund the association. We have given incentives for electronic system design and manufacturing, matching central government incentives," he added.