Mr Toshiyuki Mizushima,
Senior Managing Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan
Mr Anant Geete,
Union Minister for Heavy Industries,
Mr R V Deshpande,
Minister for Infrastructure, Large and Medium Industries,
Mr D K Shivakumar,
Minister for Energy,
Mr T B Jayachandra,
Minister for Minor Irrigation, Law and Parliamentary Affairs,
Mr Santosh Lad,
Minister for Labour
Mr D K Suresh,
Member of Parliament, Bengaluru Rural Constituency,
Mr M Krishnappa,
Member Legislative Assembly, Bengaluru South Constituency,
Mr Akira Onishi,
President, Toyota Industries Corporation
Mr Kiyotsugu Kurimoto,
Managing Director, Toyota Industries
Mr Vikram Kirloskar,
Director, Toyota Industries
Mr Akio Isomata,
Minister, Embassy of Japan
Special Invitees, Dignitaries and friends from the Industry and Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. I am very much delighted and pleased to be a part of the Engine Plant Opening Ceremony of Toyota Industries Engine India Private Limited, this morning.
2. I wish to begin by congratulating the Mr Akira Onishi, President Toyota Industries Corporation, and the entire management and team of Toyota Industries for an outstanding ceremony that being organized today.
3. Your planning is meticulous. Your eye for detail is noteworthy. Your execution is par excellence. These, in essence, reflect the culture of Toyota and the brand that it stands for.
4. Toyota’s growth in Karnataka has been phenomenal ever since your first investment under Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machines (KTTM) way back in the year 1997. You later made capacity expansions on two occasions.
5. Today, as I join you on this august occasion, I am happy note that two decades of Toyota in Karnataka has made it a household name.
6. People acknowledge your contribution to this State and the State too holds Toyota in great esteem. Today, Toyota has become a brand of Karnataka.
7. I understand that this engine plant, which will produce diesel engines with a capacity of 2.4 and 2.8 liters for Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicles, is dedicated for captive consumption and is the largest investment made by Toyota in India.
8. This plant gains great significance because of many other reasons.
9. Firstly, besides the fact that you will make investments of Rs 1100 Crore and create 500 new jobs, a huge amount of import substitution will be achieved by having nearly 150 parts localized.
10. Secondly, this factory will use Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) for many processes and the engines which will roll out of the factory will be Euro-4 and BS-4 compliant.
11. Thirdly, I am also been informed that you have planted 4000 trees here. This is an excellent initiatives to preserve the greenery in and around of Bengaluru.
12. Friends, the automotive industry is an important industry due to the presence of large players like Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Scania, TVS and many more in the State.
13. These Original Equipment Manufacturers are supported by a cluster of auto components manufacturers consisting of hundreds of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the State.
14. The skills required for this industry include machining, designing, Computer-Aided Design or Computer-Aided Manufacturing and a large skilled workforce is available in the State for these tasks.
15. Not only we are leaders in Information Technology and IT-enabled services, Design, Reserach and Development, but also in machining and manufacturing.
16. Consequently, Karnataka houses the World’s largest Two-Wheeler Plant – Honda – in Narsapur. A number of foundry and other clusters which are in Belagavi, Shivamogga, Peenya and others places also develop World-class products.
17. Today, many of our SMEs in auto sector are growing and developing capabilities in the Aerospace sector. As a result, Boeing, Airbus and other global majors are sourcing their requirements from Karnataka, supporting hundreds of SMEs and also thousands of mechanics and skilled personnel in the State.
18. We intend developing more skilled personnel by expanding our Industrial Training Institutes and also developing Centres of Excellence (CoE’s) in Government Tool Room and Training Centre (GTTC) with foreign collaboration so as to develop World-class manpower.
19. Friends, Japan has been a sturdy partner of Karnataka. More than 400 Japanese companies exists here, making it one of the largest clusters of Japanese companies in India.
20. Toyota Mitsubishi Engineering Industrial Corporation (TMEIC) and Mitsubishi Elevators are some of the Japanese companies that have recently established their plants in Tumakuru and Kolar districts, respectively.
21. We are supporting Japanese investors by project facilitation mechanisms in the industries department by constantly reviewing the progress.
22. A Japanese International Township (JIT), specially meant for Japanese companies would be developed in an exclusive 500 acre zone in Vasant Narsapur Industrial Area in Tumakuru District.
23. Other Indian and global companies such as GSK, Tata Power SED, PepsiCo, Exxon Mobil have also established plants in the State helping the State’s economy and creating employment to thousands of people.
24. Karnataka has always been pro-industry. A healthy industrial growth propels all other sectors, which in turn results in a healthy growth of the State.
25. The new Industrial Policy brought out by Our Government in 2014 lays emphasis on providing 12 per cent growth in the industrial sector and promoting industrialization in all parts of the State.
26. The policy envisages development of infrastructure across the State and creating huge employment by dispersal of industries to rural areas.
27. Besides the industrial policy, Our Government has taken the lead on many fronts by introducing sector specific policies in Aerospace, Bio-Tech, Pharma, Textiles, besides, Tourism and recently retail and startup policies to ensure robust, all round growth in the State.
28. We are committed to have industry led growth to ensure plentiful of employment opportunities for our young people.
29. Invest Karnataka our flagship Global Investor Meet, has had wonderful success. More than Rs 1.77 Lakh Crore were already given approval and another Rs 1.27 Lakh Crore investment intentions in the form of Memorandums of Understanding would also be realized, and are being grounded and implemented.
30. Our Government is working very hard to bring in reforms and steps to speed up growth in the State. I would like to mention some of the steps initiated.
31. We recently created a “Karnataka Vision Group” consisting of the most imminent personalities this State has produced. This group will advise the Government on all matters of growth and development of the State.
32. The first meeting of the Vision Group was held in April and several pressing issues faced by the State were discussed and deliberated upon. You will see a lot of positive outcomes of these meetings in the near future.
33. We are working on improving all aspects of physical infrastructure and expanding our logistical network. Some 23 projects with more than 1500 km under Karnataka State Highway Improvement Program and Karnataka Road Development Corporation has been announced.
34. Our State is self-sufficient in power and new infrastructure is continuously being built to support industrial growth. Power plants, expansion of air strips, state highways and Namma Metro are some of the mega projects we have undertaken.
35. We have initiated major labour reforms so as to protect the interests of labour and yet make life easier for industry. Our endeavor has always listen to the views of the industry and do our best to act upon them in all sincerity.
36. On the renewable energy front, Karnataka is taking huge strides to in harnessing the inherent strengths and potential that we have in this area.
37. We recently announced the Solar Policy with an attractive set of incentives and concessions. Our focus on the renewable energy front to supplement our traditional energy sources will make us a Power Surplus State by 2022.
38. We have held several consultative meetings with all stakeholders on the subject of “Ease of Doing business”. Our aim is to make Karnataka the best destination and the easiest State to do business.
39. We are striving to simplify procedures for approvals and clearances across departments. Industries are being given easier approvals to buy agricultural land by bringing amendments to Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.
40. “Invest Karnataka”, a new Section 8 Company is being formed to promote “Brand Karnataka” across the Globe, which would involve the best brains in Government and private sector to jointly project and promote investments into the State.
41. Under the able leadership of my colleague Mr R. V. Deshpande, our officers are reaching to the investors across the World to ensure more investments come to the State from Indian and foreign
investors.
42. On the subject of attracting global interest in Karnataka, we look forward to co-hosting another global event Pravasi Bharati Divas between 7th and 9th January 2017, and inviting Indian diaspora from across the World.
43. Lastly, as employees of Toyota, you are all Karnataka’s Brand Ambassadors and the State is proud of your achievements.
44. We want Toyoto to continue to be here and make all expansions in Karnataka. At the same time, we hope that you will promote Karnataka in all your interactions with the larger investor community.
45. Before I conlcude, I wish to give you my personal assurance that our Government will help you to succeed and prosper.
Thank you one and all !