Karnataka's coastal region awash with Rs17,000 crore investment

Investment of more than Rs17,000 crore was inked on the first day of the two-day Coastal Investment Development Summit that began in Mangalore on Wednesday.

Among the investors were firms from biotech, agriculture, petroleum and petrochemical, tourism and service sectors.

Encouraged by the two Global Investors’ meetings held in Bangalore, the state government had invited investors from the coastal region, with Mangalore serving as the industrial hub.

Opening the summit, chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda said industrialisation in the coastal region got stalled because of various reasons.

“But I’m here today to assure industrialisation with reasonable environmental protection and significant technology to control environmental pollution,” he said.

 The coastal region is well connected by road, railways, air and sea. Abundant land and water and skilled labour are available for industries.  “But I’m sad to note that despite all this, coastal youth who invest so much time, money and energy into empowering themselves with skills are not able to get jobs in the region and they have to go to distant places to earn their livelihood,” he said.

The next growth engine for the state is the coastal region and the government is taking steps to improve the infrastructure facilities in the region including road and rail connectivity. The plans include Ankola–Hubli, Talaguppa–Honnavar railway lines, widening of Shirady-Agumbe, Charmady and Sampaje roads, installation of power lines and development of an IT hub on the coast.

Gowda said the government would hold the third edition of the Global Investors’ meet in Bangalore in June to attract an investment of Rs6 lakh crore.

“After the two Global Investor’s meet, Karnataka has become the most preferred state for investment” Gowda said.

On the sidelines of the summit, commissioner of industry department, M Maheshwara Rao, told DNA that investors in agriculture industry, tourism, and hospitality industries had shown interest in setting up their ventures in the coastal region.