Centre to give ₹1 lakh cr for road, infra development in Karnataka

The approvals come two days ahead of the global investors meet (GIM) from Wednesday in the city to attract global investments in diverse sectors.

Intel’s projects is part of nine IT projects with a combined investment of Rs 3,097 crore cleared by the Karnataka state government.

The government is expecting to attract double the investment received so far, he said. Of that amount roughly Rs 60,000 crore would be channelled into the development of roads across the state. To address congestion issues in Bengaluru, he said the Centre would share the cost of the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) and three elevated corridors which is estimated to cost Rs 11,000 crore, of which about Rs 8,000 crore will be required for land acquisition. India Inc captains turned up at the event in full force, including Ratan Tata, Sajjan Jindal, Anil Ambani, Uday Kotak, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Gautam Adani.

Fourteen sectors, including textile and defence, have been identified for the meet, for which seven partner nations – France, Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden, Japan and South Korea – are arriving with huge delegations, Minister for Large and Medium Industries R V Deshpande said.

“We are confident that it will be hugely successful”, Siddaramaiah said. Wipro founder Azim Premji too said Bengaluru’s creaking infrastructure remained an issue, and said if Karnataka fixes its infrastructure, it will become the fastest growing state in the country. “We are also exploring an industry-government partnership entity to promote a host of services under the “Invest Karnataka” brand”, he said. With personal experience of navigating through Bengaluru’s traffic, Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that the Centre will spend Rs 1 lakh crore to improve road network in Karnataka, including in its capital. “We have informed the Centre”, he added.

Meanwhile, responding to a question on stiff competition from other states, Deshpande said that Karnataka with its inherent strengths and advantages continued to draw investment despite states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana vying with it.