Mysore:
Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Kodagu District Chamber of Commerce & Industry are all set to woo investors in the hospitality industry, education, garments and tourism to the “Kashmir of the south”.

At Kodagu Business Development Summit scheduled for December 18, FKCCI will facilitate investors and government agencies to set up various industries in the district. FKCCI is expecting an investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore during the meet, which is expected to be inaugurated by chief minister Jagadish Shettar.

FKCCI president K Shiva Shanmugam told reporters that Kodagu has the potential to grow in many sectors. “We want to encourage investment in Kodagu, as it will help in its overall development. Preliminary meetings have been conducted with locals, and many of them have agreed to support environment-friendly medium-scale ventures,” he added.

“We have come out with proposals like hi-tech nursery, residential schools, bee-keeping, garment firms, food-processing industry, cold-storage facility, IT industries, besides those tapping the district’s rich tourism potential by providing facilities at all tourist spots. These projects are viable and will not harm the nature in anyway,” Shanmugam claimed.

Kodagu has not seen any development in the recent past, and it lacks big industries and necessary infrastructure. Many people are migrating from Kodagu to neighbouring districts like Mysore, Dakshina Kannada and Bangalore for higher education and employment. “Setting up industries here will ensure development in the near next five years,” the FKCCI chief felt.
In industrial and infrastructural development, land plays a major role. “Therefore, we have taken many land owners into confidence, and they have shown interest in sharing their property to establish industries,” Shanmugam claimed, adding that FKCCI will act as a facilitator between investors, locals, and government agencies.

“We have felt the need to have cold storage facilities in Somawarpet, Madikeri and Virajpet which contribute to nearly 2.35 lakh tonnes of coffee meant for export.

We have also identified land for mini airport in Somwarpet. Our aim is to wipe out imbalance in economic growth in the state,” he added.

The FKCCI chief said that they are expecting nearly 50 investors at the meet.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore / by Lawrence Milton, TNN / December 05th, 2012