Why would anybody want to invest in Karnataka, Mr CM?

A friend responded as below, through a personal mail:

On Saturday, at the annual general meeting of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce (BCIC), Berns (Steffen Berns, president of the Bosch Group in India) noted that it took Bosch 29 touchpoints and 19 months to get approvals for electricity for two of its office buildings. Bosch is in the midst of moving its factory in Bengaluru to Bidadi, about 35 km from Bengaluru. Though phase 1 of plant construction is over, electricity connections are yet to come. Berns indicated that if the current problems continue, Bosch may make its future investments outside Karnataka.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

The report quotes not just Berns, but even other well known industrialists talking in similar vein. And, this is not the first time. Also, this is even as Mr Chandrababu Naidu is rolling out the red carpet for them all to drive into his state, just some 25km from the KIAL.

All the same, if the industry is staying on (and even expanding) in Bengaluru (but not Karnataka), it is largely on account of the rich human resources available in the city, as also the weather, neither of which the government can take credit for. And, the government's complacency is inevitably leading to the death of the goose that has been laying the golden eggs for it all these years.

For Nasscom chairman BVR Mohan Reddy, the city's affordable infrastructure has always been its biggest draw. "Comparison of convenience versus costs puts Hyderabad far ahead of any other city in India. Even during the peak of summer, power availability is not under stress," Reddy explains.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India program has received a big boost with global major Foxconn announcing plans to invest in the country. The biggest project announced by the Taiwanese firm was the one to invest $ 5 billion over five years in Maharashtra. Another large smartphone facility is also to be set up in Andhra Pradesh. This is a major breakthrough as Foxconn, which employees around 1.3 million employees across the world with the majority of them in China, is the leading contract manufacturer for a host of global brands like Apple, Samsung, HP, Dell and others.

For the full text of this blog in the ToI, click here.

But even as arguments rage in New Delhi on the pros and cons of the 2013 act, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has found a way round the problem to build a new capital city on 34,000 acres of farmland. His strategy has been to make all farmers stakeholders in the new capital, so that they voluntarily “pool” their land with the city development agency. Once the city is developed in a decade, they will get back almost 30% of their pooled land as ultra-expensive city land. This enables them to see the new city as a road to prosperity, not deprivation (as happened in Singur or POSCO’s mining area in Odisha).

For the full text of this blog, by Swaminathan S Aiyar, in the ToI, click here.

Even as that's the scene in the progressive neighbouring states, the scenario in Namma Karnataka is exemplified by the outburst by Mr Steffen Berns, president of the Bosch Group in India (check my post of 30th June, by scrolling above), most uncharacteristic for a country business head, plainly out of total frustration over the way things are.

Now, while Mr RV Deshpande, as the newly appointed Large and medium scale industries minister, can possibly effect some damage control, known as he is to be comparatively dynamic, what can even he do about the state's pathetic power scenario, with even the capital city facing frequent outages, even during the middle of the monsoon season. The reforms had been splelt out ages ago (more or less as outlined here), but government after government has been only milking the power sector to a level where it's on the verge of near collapse today.

One wonders if there's any salvation at all for the state. 

In keeping with its plans to develop Bengaluru as a global start-up capital, the state government on Friday assured it would soon unveil a start-up policy that would be a model for the world. - - - The assurance came at an interaction that AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi had with CEOs of start-ups in the presence of Industries Minister R V Deshpande and IT-BT Minister S R Patil. - - - Deshpande told reporters after the interaction that heads of around 15 to 16 start-ups presented a slew of suggestions to create the best ecosystem for nurturing start-ups. “We have formed a start-up council. We will incorporate their suggestions in the new policy It would the best and a model for the world,” Deshpande said.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

The prospects are just phenomenal, quite as the following excerpts from a recent blog by Prof Vivek Wadhwa, in the ToI (click here to read the full text), has also pointed out - "the biggest opportunities are actually at home. India added nearly 150 million internet connections via smartphones in 2014 and is the fastest-growing market in the world. By the end of this decade, virtually all of India will be online. This will allow it to leapfrog into the latest technologies and transform itself".

But, for all of that, we first need to get our basic infrastructure - efficient and reliable power supply, water supply, public transport, to begin with - in place. And, when it's well known that the government has serious capacity limitations in all of these areas, and simultaneously reputed private players have shown themselves to be capable of meeting the challenges, whatever, effectively, shouldn't we be asking the government to facilitate their take over of these functions, and concentrate its efforts on just regulation (and control, where essential)? Once that's done, the rest will follow automatically; and, there's no time to lose!

Well, that's what these two petitions are about - this on power supply, and this on public bus transport services. Do raise the demand through your endorsements.
 

And, as if all of the additional burden that the investors (as also, the ordinary tax payers - meaning, you and me) have to shoulder were not enough, here comes another, to provide for the "parliamentary secretary bhagya" that namma CM avaru has now instituted, going by the following excerpts from another New Indian Express report (full text accessible here)

Throwing austerity to the winds, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah named 10 parliamentary secretaries on Thursday. This is expected to burden the state exchequer by about Rs 2.70 crore per year since they would be entitled to salaries and perks on par with ministers of state.

With most parts of the state still reeling under the impact of drought, the chief minister appointed nine MLAs and one MLC as parliamentary secretaries. They would assist the chief minister in discharging his official duties.

Where is the end to all of this profligacy, at the cost of the tax payer?
 

Mooting a shift in archaic labour laws, the government is all set to allow women to work night shifts, currently limited to those employed with the IT, IT-enabled services and hospice sectors. This will mean more jobs for women in manufacturing, textile and service sectors in Karnataka.

The move is part of the government's continued efforts at improving World Bank's ranking in ease of doing business across Indian states. Karnataka is presently ranked ninth.

- - - "This will encourage investors, especially those in manufacturing, textile and service sectors, to set up shops and facilitate more job opportunities for women,'' said a senior official at Karnataka Udyog Mitra.

- - - The proposed amendment will, however, put the onus of safety and security of women employees on the employer by making it mandatory for them to ensure occupational safety and health. "There has to be adequate protection from sexual harassment and safe transportation from the factory to the doorstep,'' said an official. Night duty for women will also be made voluntary, with written consent on record, he added.

KN Raju, an officer-bearer of the state small-scale industries association said: "This was the need of the hour, especially with the percentage of educated and working women increasing by the day. It will create job opportunities and also improve their working conditions."

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

Now, how is the SSI sector, which supposedly is the targeted beneficiary of this move, going to be able to afford "safe factory to the doorstep transportation", when they are largely seen to be hard put to even afford the minimum wages? That's where efficient and reliable public bus transport needs to come in. But, the current monopoly government service provider, viz BMTC, has plainly washed its hands off the job, giving various excuses (check here), even as private players are waiting to grab the opportunity.

In such a scenario, when the government continues to perpetuate the monopoly, using artificialities like the Contract Carriage Act, how can it claim to be marking any improvement in "ease of doing business"? Where is the "mitra"-ship of Udyog? Also, when it's reviewing its stance on the archaic labour laws, why is it holding onto the even more archaic "Contract Carriage Act"?