The Hindu Business Line : Uma Bharati woos IT majors

IT may be coincidental but the timing of Ms Uma Bharati's investment promotion visit to Bangalore these past two days couldn't have been more significant than now.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has spent the two days wooing IT and corporate brass here and projecting a new industry-friendly, cosmopolitan face of her government.

She was on the campuses of Wipro and Infosys for a considerable time on Tuesday and Wednesday and told Mr Azim Premji and Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy her State was theirs to come, invest and reap some rich dividendsAs for her timing, in the past few weeks, Bangalore's creamy layer, the infotech sector, has been ranting about the Government's apathy to its concerns, the city's poor roads, power and other infrastructure, and the Finance Minister's latest tax levy on IT products.

Last month, Mr Azim Premji announced a freeze on Wipro's expansion in Bangalore, while Infosys is miffed at the delay in getting 100-300 acres of land it has sought. Ms Bharati told reporters, "When I heard that Wipro planned to expand outside Bangalore, I thought, why not showcase Bhopal and Indore and invite them to set up operations there."

After an address to FKCCI members today, she said potential investors Wipro and Infosys had both said an international airport was priority, among others things. A request is before the Centre to declare Bhopal or Indore airports as international, she said.

Mixing hardsell with figures from a latest magazine survey Ms Bharati said, Madhya Pradesh had moved up the industrial index and was centrally located and linked to the metros. It was developing IT, apparel, six food parks and an SEZ at Indore. Ms Uma Bharati made an irresistible offer: unlimited acres at the lowest prices, 35 per cent cheaper skilled manpower and a high RoI (return on investment) of 1.86 among all States.

"I am a Chief Minister in a hurry. We don't have a thousand years to prove but just five years. The new government's motto is think fast, decide fast and implement fast," she told CII members here last evening. The high-profileteam, including the Industry & Commerce Minister, Mr Kailash Chawla, and the Chief Secretary, is also wooing investments other sectors too.