Belgaum has good scope for growth: Cong MP Rajeev Gowda at SOS Karnataka

Rajeev Gowda, Congress Rajya Sabha MP in conversation with Vikram Kirloskar, Chairman and Managing Director, Kirloskar Systems Limited.

Vikram Kirloskar elaborated on the advantages and disadvantages of investment in Karnataka. "It is different from a lot of states as successive governments have supported the same policies," he said while calling it the world's fastest growing state that adds more office space every day.

Talking about the bringing Toyota to Karnataka, he emphasized that the intellectual infrastructure and entrepreneurial spirit went a long way in convincing them to setup plant in Karnataka.

Rajeev Gowda addressed the issue of a lot of Karnataka's GDP coming out of Bengaluru. "In the next few years, we will look farther from Bengaluru. Belgaum has a good scope for growth, but for this connectivity has to improve. But, like anything else it is a chicken and egg story. I think it is really about the will at the end of the day," said Kirloskar.

Kirloskar mentioned Tirupur as an example of an industrial hub and also spoke about his experience in setting up in Bidadi. "In Bidadi, water and electricity lines were done by the government much sooner than committed," he said. The conversation veered towards the city's infrastructure and Kirloskar summed it up with an example, saying, "In 1983, we were stuck in traffic jams in Tokyo for 3 hours, that has changed. Infrastructure can change.

The synergy between industry and academia and the lack of resources for the two coming together was discussed. Both agreed that the state and private industry had a long way to go in tapping that potential.