World views India through Bengaluru, D K Shivakumar claims
Speaking to reporters here on his return from the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, he said, “India is the fastest growing country. People have a lot of confidence in the youth of this country. The world leaders are seeing India through Bengaluru. This city has offices of most of the Fortune 500 companies.”
Shivakumar said that the summit was attended by chief ministers of ten Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Jharkhand and Assam, as well as heads of various state governments.
“Sixty-five countries participated. There were big businessmen like Elon Musk and others. There were nearly 100 public meetings and new policies were discussed,” he said.
Deputy CM said the talks in Davos focused on data centres, global capacity centres, food and beverage, aviation, renewable energy, electric vehicles and electronics as well as urbanization in India by 2047, especially in Bengaluru.
Referring to his travel experience in Europe, Shivakumar said that infrastructure planning and civil discipline were remarkable.
“I went to Davos by road. I passed through Zurich on the way and chose Milan on the way back. I noticed that there were 30-40 tunnels built 60-70 years ago. There is understanding of traffic, discipline and respect for the law,” he said. The Deputy CM said that the Karnataka government has deliberately decided not to sign any memorandum of understanding in Davos.
“We decided not to sign any MoUs there because we want foreign investors to come here and see our existing resources, our strengths, our environment, our clean energy, our pollution levels, talent availability, artificial intelligence and data center requirements,” he said.
He noted that investors are interested in investing in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to create local employment.
“They want these cities to be vibrant. Young people should find jobs there and avoid coming to big cities,” he said.
Shivakumar emphasized the need for long-term urban mobility planning.
“We need to prepare a mobility plan for the next 25 years. Ring roads are mandatory for all districts and cities,” he said.
Referring to the delayed projects in Bengaluru, he said similar disruptions would not be allowed elsewhere.
“The way we are ignoring the Peripheral Bypass and the business corridor in Bengaluru should not happen elsewhere. We have started working on it and notifications will be issued soon,” he said.
Urban development will be given priority and will be reviewed shortly, he said, adding that Bengaluru MLA NA Harris has been appointed as the head of Bengaluru development and the ‘Yes Bengaluru’ initiative will be launched in February.
Shivakumar said issues such as overhead cables and inadequate use of underground service corridors were raised during the discussions in Davos.
“Investors wanted to know how we were going to fix this,” he said.
Discussions were also held on urban innovation, digital platforms and encouraging Kannadigas to do business in the state, he said.
Deputy CM said that despite opposition, the government is planning to set up IT City and AI City in Bidadi near Bengaluru.
“Many people, especially farmers, are politically opposed to this. But no one can stop development. When farmers get good returns, they will accept it,” he said.
He said that Karnataka has offered unprecedented compensation for land acquisition for the Ring Road.
“No one has made such an offer to the losers anywhere in the country like we have,” Shivakumar said.
Many companies have shown interest in green hydrogen, electronics and nanotechnology. “Many companies have shown interest in green hydrogen energy. 45 companies talked to us about electronics and nanotechnology. We have decided on the pace of business and I will discuss this with the Prime Minister,” he said.
