Two years after the previous edition of the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) raked in investments of
Rs 3.92 lakh crore from industry segments spanning across aerospace, automotive, electronics, IT/ITeS, iron & steel, automotive and biotechnology for the State government, investors are an unhappy lot.
While the State signed 389 MoUs with various industry captains during the mega event that showcased Karnataka as one of the most attractive investment destinations for both national and global corporations, many investors complain that there has been very little progress since then. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on condition of anonymity, an irate investor from the precision manufacturing industry said, “The government has not walked the talk. I signed an MoU with the government for land in the Aerospace Park near Devanahalli in June 2010 and also paid for it. While the land has been allotted to me, I cannot set up my manufacturing unit as there are no roads, no water and no electricity. The litigations with farmers who want adequate compensation for their land, has still not been sorted out. I have to contend with this inordinate delay after being promised that everything would be ready within a year”.
On whether he would like to pull out of the MoU, the investor, who already has three units in Bengaluru, said, “What is the point of it all? I will get my money back, but I stand to lose out on a big opportunity if I do so. The logistics of the Aerospace Park is very convenient for my kind of business,” he said. Another angry investor in the realty business said, “This single window clearance is one big sham. I have signed four MoUs with the government during GIM 2010 to facilitate conversion of agricultural land that I own on the outskirts of the city for setting up a software park. I got tired of waiting and finally went through the conventional route of applying to the deputy commissioner and got my land converted for commercial use.”
The government has regularly made investment in road shows in different states across the country. A Delhi-based investor in the services industry was invited by the Karnataka government to Gujarat to sign an MoU for investment in Bengaluru in February 2011. “We were made to wait for over a year and finally got the allotment in April this year. While roads, rainwater drains and sites have been marked out, we have no water and the allotment letter clearly states that we cannot sink borewells and will have to make do with recycled water, which is unacceptable” he said.