annual report1-final.qxd - Overseas Indian

Parallel Sessions with States
said, “We should first be able to provide complete
healthcare to our own citizens rather than focus on
health tourism.”
Shankarlinge Gowda, Secretary, IT and biotechnology,
spoke about the availability of world class
R&D facilities that Bangalore provided as a knowledge
database for IT and biotech industry (more
than 135 R&D Institutes along with IISc). He spoke
about the e-governance initiatives such as KAVERI
(Registration of property transactions) and infrastructure
development projects especially in
biotech sector.
Minister of Industry P.G.R. Scindhia, while
thanking the presenters, spoke about the encouraging
climate provided by the Government of
Karnataka in welcoming investments into the State.
At the same time, he also agreed that some constraints
in the infrastructure sector were there,
which the government was trying to overcome.
Q&A
About 25 overseas Indians, mainly people of
Karnataka origin, attended the interactive session.
They showed keen interest in investing in sectors
like IT, road and transport (air), healthcare and
renewable energy. Some of their proposals were
taken into consideration immediately on the spot.
Most of the participants wanted the Karnataka
Government to show competitive spirit in encouraging
investment citing the case of the lack of
proper infrastructure facilities particularly in the
power and road sectors.
" Kerala
The session was opened by Jiji Thomson, Director
of Public Relations and Information, Kerala. He
spoke about the intention of the meeting and different
policies devised and implemented by the
Kerala Government towards the welfare of nonresident
Keralites including different schemes
available in the State for safe and profitable investments.
As tourism was one of the potential areas
for investment, he invited Suman, Director of
Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, to brief
the gathering about the details of schemes available
in the area of tourism.
Suman informed the participants about the
already identified projects across the State, which
were readily available for investment.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy then
spoke about the plans of the Government and initiatives
charted exclusively for non-resident
Keralites and opened the floor for questions.
There were many questions on the launching of
proposed civil aviation venture of Kerala, Air
Kerala for the benefit of Gulf-based Keralites. The
Chief Minister reiterated the mission of the airline,
saying it was the need of the hour as other major
airlines were costwise out of the reach of workers
working in the Gulf. It would be a project supported
and invested by the non-resident Malayalees as
proven by Kochi airport and the proposed Kannur
airport.
There were also some questions regarding investments
in the area of knowledge economy to create
more job opportunities in Kerala itself for the coming
generations. The session discussed the active
intervention by the Government in giving training
to the people going to the Gulf countries for
employment and different schemes introduced by
Department of NORKA for the welfare and comfortable
settlement after their return from the Gulf
countries. There were many questions seeking clarifications
on the support and subsidies available in
different investment areas.
" Maharashtra
The session began with a welcome address by
Ashok Chavan, the Maharashtra Government’s
Industry Minister, followed by the Secretary of
Tourism. The session was also attended by noted
Hindi film actor Jackie Shroff and director Subhash
Ghai.
The focus areas identified for future investments
in the State were: information technology, bio-technology,
tourism industry and the film industry.
Maharashtra was described as an economic powerhouse
and the financial capital of the country. It
was projected as the gateway to business opportunities
in India. Mumbai, it was claimed, was “the
best city for business”. Other factors cited in favour
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