- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
MURUGESH Nirani, the large and medium industries minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Saturday (4) invited firms from Thailand to make investments in the state, assuring them of facilities and assistance while focusing on innovation and start-ups.
“Karnataka holds a very strong relationship with Thailand, and we are keen to strengthen our relationship further. Thai businesses are among the forerunners of foreign investors in Karnataka,” Nirani said.
The minister said Karnataka already has a number of Thailand-based companies like CP Group, Allied Metals and Pruksa Real Estate.
An envoy from the south-east Asian nation has reportedly held talks with Nirani on business opportunities in the state in an effort to improve the ties between Thailand and Karnataka. The minister, while briefing a delegation from Thailand about investment opportunities in Karnataka, said the Indian state is the destination for them.
“Our government has taken several measures to enhance the investor-friendly atmosphere. Karnataka is the third highest FDI recipient in India in 2020-21 at $7.6 billion (£5.4 billion) with 14 per cent national share. We are very keen to further strengthen this partnership by leveraging the existing synergies between Karnataka and Thailand,” Nirani, an entrepreneur himself, said.
“We share many similarities across major industries like Auto & Auto Components, Electronics, Food Processing and Textiles to name a few,” he added.
Highlighting the new industrial policy 2020-25 that involves subsidies, incentives and other benefits, Nirani said Karnataka has attracted over Rs 1 lakh crore (nearly £10 billion) of investments since the Covid outbreak in March 2020.
“Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) is the world’s fourth largest technology and innovation cluster. We aim to become an integral part of the global value chain. We would like to partner with Thailand and lead the path of sustainable growth and development together,” he said.
