FICCI Bills Tourism, Aviation, Media As Sunrise Sectors

FICCI Bills Tourism, Aviation, Media As Sunrise Sectors
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Karnataka is where the action is. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has unveiled its ‘Vision Suvarna Karnataka’, which advocates going beyond IT/ITeS to make the state’s economy more resilient.
The Suvarna Karnataka report — which aims at zero poverty and 100% literacy — was submitted to governor Rameshwar Thakur and his adviser S Krishna Kumar on Thursday. “We propose an economic agenda where Karnataka will be fully developed by 2015 and register economic growth of 10%, which will make it a Rs 6-lakh-crore economy,’’ said FICCI president and MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
FICCI secretary-general Amit Mitra presented a five-point agenda to achieve the goal, focusing on diversification of the state economy. This includes sectors like tourism, media and entertainment, aviation and nanotechnology, instead of its current state of being overdependent on the IT/ITeS.
“Develop Bangalore in ‘Mission Mode’ so it emerges as a modern, well-planned city. The city should not just be the gateway to Karnataka, but also the preferred investment destination for emerging sectors,’’ said Mitra. “Bangalore contributes Rs 11,500 crore in income tax to the Centre. We deserve more attention. As FM told me, the reason for our condition is not the dearth of funds, but malgovernance,” Chandrashekhar said.
FICCI urged the governor to improve education and focus on governance and social service delivery by empowering people through RTI and promoting e-interface through online services like Bhoomi.
Chandrashekhar said Karnataka’s growth has been tapering off in the past five years, with growth being non-inclusive — 25% of Karnataka’s population lives below the poverty line. “The rural and urban poor are ignored,” he said.
“Let’s not leave the task of town planning and infrastructure development to government agencies like BMP and BDA. Professional town planners should be called in,’’ said R K Misra, Lead India winner, who was part of the audience.
5-POINT AGENDA
Diversify economy, make Karnataka fully developed by 2015
Develop Bangalore in ‘Mission Mode’ as gateway to Karnataka
Focus on agriculture, education, social service delivery
Undertake education and skill development in ‘Mission Mode’
Make Karnataka and Bangalore the preferred investment destination for emerging sectors