“For the first time in India, the Karnataka government is coming up with a research and development policy, which will be taken up in the next Cabinet meeting, and the government will also be framing an employment policy,” Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating the State-level conference of the District Chambers of Commerce and Industry-2022 in Hubballi on Saturday. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) and the Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have jointly organised the conference.
Mr. Bommai said that through the employment policy it had been planned to encourage industries that create more jobs. The more jobs they create, the more incentives they would get, he said.
Tracing the history of industrial development in the State, Mr. Bommai recalled the contribution of the Mysore Maharaja in establishing industries in the pre-Independence era. Subsequently post Independence, several public sector undertakings were established in Karnataka, including Bengaluru. “That has been the foundation for the growth of IT and BT in the State,” he said.
Elaborating on how Karnataka had been at the forefront of coming up with public policies, Mr. Bommai said that as Bengaluru housed nearly 400 R&D centres, the highest in the country, the government was coming up with the R&D policy.
Terming himself a student of both economics and philosophy, the Chief Minister said that making profit would not always give happiness.
“In the era of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation the concept of concern for others had disappeared and it needs to be re-established. Apart from the calculation on profit and loss, industrialists and businessmen should think about the impact of their actions on society also,” he said, making an appeal to them to minimise their profits for the sake of giving something to society.
The government on its part would take steps to address the issues raised by the trade and commerce bodies. It would also be simplifying the taxation process by introducing self assessment for industries and take measures in accordance with the changing world, he said.
Mr. Bommai said that in a technology-driven world, it was important that first and second generation industrialists from tier-2 and tier-3 cities started thinking ‘big’ and became ‘adventurous’ in order to expand their setups and presence in order to achieve success.
He also said that it was important that industrialists start thinking about the bottom of the pyramid, constituting the working class.
“When work is given due respect and reward, the business will also improve and subsequently the region will prosper. It is only when people have requisite reward for their work and their living standards go up, the State will also prosper,” he said.
As per the theme ‘From New Karnataka to New India’, the State government would be developing six townships, new air strips, and the focus would be on developing the whole of Karnataka by giving priority to development of tier-2 and 3 cities, he said.
President of FKCCI I.S. Prasad, who welcomed the gathering, and president of KCCI Vinay Javali who made the introductory remarks, said that the chambers would work in coordination with the government in achieving the goal of a $1.5 trillion economy.
Ministers Murugesh Nirani, B.C. Patil, Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, MLC Basavaraj Horatti, MLA Arvind Bellad, Additional Chief Secretary E.V. Ramana Reddy, and office-bearers of FKCCI and KCCI were present.
