Bengaluru: Global Investors’ Meet 2015 may be postponed

BENGALURU: This would have been the big ticket event to attract investments of over Rs 5 lakh crores over the next five years to put Karnataka on par with investment favourite Tamil Nadu and Chandrababu Naidu’s projection of an Andhra Pradesh of the future.

But by all accounts, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have re-fashioned his strategy to hold a Global Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru from Nov 23 - 26. With major parts of the state suffering the worst drought in 40 years, the CM announced on Tuesday that GIM 2015 may be postponed.

Asked whether the delay in holding the GIM was because Tamil Nadu had held a similar meet recently and signed memorandums of understanding attracting investments worth around Rs 2 lakh crores, Mr Siddaramaiah denied the one had anything to do with the situation in Karnataka.

The GIM was in line with his government’s new industrial policy, he said, while dismissing the World Bank report on investor-friendly states in India that ranked Karnataka a lowly ninth. “The report looks like a BJP led NDA Government sponsored report,” he scoffed.

Festival gift: No power cuts from today?

After month long anger in the city over the erratic power supply, Bescom on Tuesday saved Bengaluru - and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s blushes - by scrapping the current load shedding of three hours in Bengaluru completely.

Bescom says the move to restore power comes after the power generation in Karnataka went up in the last two days. “As the thermal power and wind generation in the state has improved considerably there will be no load shedding in city from Wednesday,” said an official from Bescom.

The energy situation in the state had hit due to poor rain following which the hydel generation which contributes more than 5,000 MW of power to the state grid was not doing well. Also two new units, each at Bellary and Raichur have now started functioning which has added more power to the state’s generation capacity.