06 July 2023 Bengaluru: CII Karnataka hosted a Media Interaction today with Mr Vijaykrishnan Venkatesan, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council & Managing Director, Kennametal India Ltd and Mr Venu Nuguri, Vice Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council and Managing Director & CEO, Hitachi Energy India Ltd, the elected leadership for CII Karnataka State 2023-24 addressing the media captains. During the interaction, the leadership highlighted the key focus areas for the State of Karnataka– being Growth, Inclusiveness, Globalisation & Building Trust. CII Karnataka will be taking forward the initiatives for the year 2023-24 aligned to the theme “Towards a Competitive and Sustainable Karnataka@100: Growth, Inclusiveness, Globalisation, Building Trust” through a strategy on Beyond Bengaluru towards enhancing competitiveness, promoting inclusiveness & facilitating sectoral growth initiatives. CII being the B20 Secretariat, has been hosting a lot of critical interventions and engagements in Karnataka and shall continue to contribute to the larger agenda of being a global powerhouse.
“As a part of our agenda this year, CII has been working closely with the Karnataka Government on key growth areas such as, ease of doing business, taxation policies, adoption of clean energy and alternative fuels, skilling and up-skilling initiatives as well as driving industrial growth beyond Bengaluru and development of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities”, said Mr Vijaykrishnan Venkatesan. Highlighting the Vision for the state, Mr Vijaykrishnan mentioned, “Focus on Beyond Bengaluru towards enhancing competitiveness, promoting inclusiveness & facilitating sectoral growth initiatives for the State of Karnataka”. Further elaborating on the MSME focussed initiatives, Mr Vijaykrishnan also said, “CII Karnataka has been extensively promoting growth and development for MSMEs as well as converging on policy related interventions as MSME outreach has been a key focus area for the state.” He also mentioned about the persistent focus on Sustainability, Manufacturing & Operational Excellence, Emerging Sectors and Entrepreneurships & Startups and create an enabling ecosystem for the industries to thrive in the state of Karnataka especially through conducive policy frameworks. The state has also initiated taskforces to deliberate on sectoral interventions under Tourism and Hospitality and Healthcare, considering the growth potential of the state.
As part of the larger exercise commenced by the CII India@75 Foundation at the National level, CII Karnataka had undertaken a visioning exercise at the State level to evolve a State Vision Document i.e., Karnataka@100 which encapsulates the aspirations of stakeholders to create a shared vision for the State. The tagline for the National vision has been – Morally, Economically & Technologically Advanced (META) India by 2047. CII Karnataka in collaboration with IIMB worked to curate this vision document in consultation with multiple stakeholders across the state. Karnataka@100 – A Document for 2047 outlines the vision for the state’s growth in the next 25 years – focussing on Governance, Investment, Participation of stakeholders, Innovation, and Industry 4.0.
The membership engagement plans highlighted enhancing competitiveness and enabling growth for the industry. This would be further supported through engagements with CII’s specialised services delivered by its 10 Centres of Excellence, international market development initiatives and exposing member companies to industry best and good practises on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Speaking to media persons, Mr Venu Nuguri said, “Emerging Sectors has been initiated as a new engagement plan, considering the membership strength of Karnataka, to catalyse the growth of the new age sectors like Aerospace & Defence, Electric Vehicles, ESDM etc. The Industry Institute Interaction, a new initiative from the last year’s agenda will be approached from an angle of building greater engagement between industry and academia to equip the youth with future-ready work and business skills emphasis. Considering the membership strength of institutes contributing to 11% of the overall membership, CII Karnataka will pursue this engagement effectively, contouring the nuances of upskilling and reskilling.
CII has been working with the Government of Karnataka on areas like Labour Codes, through IR experts, lobbying constantly for an effective and smooth implementation, Minimum wages, and other aspects related to labour relations. Decriminalisation under various acts will be another focus area under Policy advocacy for the state as this being a national agenda, to decriminalise minor offences and enhance ease of doing business. Skilling being a thrust area for the Government both at the Central and State levels, will be focussed along with the Industry Institute Interactions. CII proactively engages with various stakeholders including international consulates for business opportunities and initiatives like catalysing job creation through career fairs & internships and enhance sectoral competitiveness through focussed interventions such as the CII Indian Women Network and CII Young Indians.