Want SEZ chief’s office in Karnataka, says Shettar

BENGALURU: The State Government has written to the Centre to shift the office of the Development Commissioner from the Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) in Kerala to Karnataka, as the state has the most number of 36 SEZs in the country.

“The Joint Commissioner’s office is functioning out of Whitefield. We have written to the Centre demanding shifting of the Development Commissioner’s office to Bengaluru,” said Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar in the Legislative Council on Tuesday. 

Replying to a question by JDS MLC KA Tippeswamy, he said the state has investment proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore, making it number one in attracting investors. The state has received foreign investments of Rs 55,334 crore, Rs 46,963 crore and Rs 63,177 crore in financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively, while it has received Rs 47,413 crore till February in the current fiscal.

“The Covid pandemic did not impact the flow of investments into the state. Corporate companies from the US, Singapore, the UK, Canada, Japan and others have come forward to invest in the state. Bengaluru Urban has 2,071 medium and large-scale industries, generating 4.86 lakh jobs, of which 3.61 lakh workers are residents of the state. We have made it mandatory for companies to employ only local residents for Group D positions in the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2020-25,” Shettar said.