Bengaluru: Karnataka has set up a dedicated company to attract investors to the state and to market and sell “Brand Bengaluru" in what’s touted as the first such experiment in the country by a state government.

The initiative comes at a time of rising competition among Indian states to attract investments. Karnataka for instance, is facing tough competition from neighbouring states such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in attracting investment.

The non-profit company called “Invest Karnataka Forum (IKF)" started functioning on Tuesday. The launch of the company was announced at a global investors summit in February.

The expenses of the company will be met through a budgetary allocation of ₹ 10 crore, the government said.

Apart from two bureaucrats and the industries minister, the rest of the members on the board, including the chief executive officer, will be either “professionals or established industry leaders", industries minister R.V. Deshpande said here on Tuesday.

The logic of setting up a full-fledged company to attract investments, according to the minister, is because “marketing and promotion has become extremely important" in the current context of India’s federal system.

He added the company executives will travel to other states as well as overseas for connecting Karnataka to investors worldwide and showcasing the strengths and opportunities the state presents investors.

Investors are leaving projects midway in Karnataka, dropping 439 projects (58%) and 118 projects (30%) out of the number they committed to at the global investors meet of 2012 and 2010, respectively, Mint reported on 25 December. This includes three big ticket steel projects with an investment outlay of nearly ₹ 1 trillion, shelved due to farmers’ protests and delays in land acquisition, among other reasons.

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