Hyderabad: With an eye on investments, the Karnataka government has assured industries that the state will become power surplus by July 2016.
Addressing a roadshow here last evening as part of Global Investors Meet "Invest Karnataka-2016" scheduled to be held in Bengaluru from February 3 to 5, 2016, Minister for Large and Medium Industries R V Deshpande assured prospective investors that by June-July 2016, Karnataka will become a power surplus state and there should not be any problems for industries.
Stating that there is a "misgiving" on power situation in Karnataka, he said Karnataka finds difficulty in power generation during severe drought situations, as dependence on (power generated by) hydro-electric power plants is very high.
"So, the Karnataka government thought of encouraging thermal power. Now NTPC, our Karnataka Power Corporation Limited at Bellary and Raichur, all those units will be generating power and giving to the grid from January 2016. And we hope by June-July 2016 more than 2,000 MW of thermal power will be added to the grid and there will be additional power from solar and wind also."
NTPC is building a 600 MW solar plant in Tumakuru district of the state, he pointed out adding "I don't want to give misgivings in the minds of the investors. Power situation will be good in Karnataka and no industry will have power cuts."
India's information technology capital Bengaluru is facing long power outages as the hydel-power dependent state's power generation has hit, due to poor rainfall this monsoon, officials had earlier said.
On incentives and concessions sought by some investors, he said, "Karnataka is not against incentives and concessions. It also gives them...but I would not like to go in the mad race."
"With my experience in the Industry, definitely industry should ask for incentives and concessions but you should look at the state, the eco-system, the decision making capacity of the state, the infrastructure and good human resource."
"I believe in bringing the investments on the ground and make them a reality...not to keep them in cold storage by signing MoUs," he said.
He further said there are more than 500 MNCs in Karnataka, because of progressive, pragmatic policies of the state and the transparency in which the clearances are given and due to the highly skilled workforce.
Assuring of total transparency, quick decisions and ease of doing business, Deshpande said, "we believe only investments can bring prosperity, it could be agriculture, horticulture, power, infrastructure, IT. We would like to provide jobs to our youngsters and create wealth in the hands of our people and only investments can make it."
