BANGALORE

The Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
S-314 South Block
Manipal Centre
47 Dickenson Road
78th Municipal Division
Bangalore 560042
Tel:+91 (080) 25590746
Fax:+91 (080) 25590846
E-mail: iicci.bang@indiaitaly.com

Regional Manager
Mr Federico Aldrighetti

Regional Committee

The Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce, recognising the importance of Bangalore in the new Indian economy, set up operations in the city more than fifteen years ago, which were initially conducted from the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce, and from a full fledged office since 2002. In fact, following the success of the first Festa Italiana, in 2002, the event was first replicated in Bangalore the following year, before it was taken to all the other Indian metros in which the Chamber has its offices, in subsequent years.

Since 2005 the Bangalore office of the Chamber has coordinated and hosted several events and initiatives: a multisectoral delegation organised by Promos in 2005; several presentations to the region’s educational and training institutions on Italian universities offering attractive scholarships for the project, “Invest you talent in Italy” in 2006; and a tourism sector delegation, in collaboration with ENIT, the Italian Tourism Board.

Events participated in this year include a seminar and B2B meetings for the Asia Invest programme, Riding the Waves of Innovation; B2B meetings for a multisectoral delegation from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and for a delegation brought by Invest in Turin and Piedmont; the PROMEC (international agency of the Modena Chamber of Commerce) exhibitors’ delegation to EXCON (construction equipment and technology trade fair); a gala dinner ‘Flavours of Italy’ organised by ENIT along with a presentation for representatives of the travel trade and industry.

Regional Background

Karnataka

Agriculture and allied activities account for nearly 56 per cent of the workforce in Karnataka State. Out of the geographical area of 1,90,49,836 hectares, 1,21,08,667 hectares area is accounted as “Agricultural Holdings” and nearly 62,21,000 farm families operate the same. Karnataka is the first state to establish a large scale Biotechnology Centre under the public sector to cater to the needs of farmers of the state with an objective of producing quality-plant materials and conserve the genetic diversity of horticulture plants. The horticultural policy focuses on area expansion, dissemination of new technology and production and supply productivity of planting materials.

The State has been a pioneer in industry and also had the distinction of building a strong and vibrant industrial base, which combined the strengths of a large public sector, privately owned large and medium industries and a very wide and dispersed small-scale sector. In more recent times, Karnataka has emerged as the knowledge and technical capital of the country. The thick concentration of IT related industries, bio-technology, BPOs and IPOs combined with strong research and development institutions and a large pool of qualified trained manpower have ensured that the state is now leading global player. The Government has been consistently pursuing progressive industrial policies to meet the changing needs of the State’s economy and industry.
Karnataka is one among the most preferred destinations for foreign investments in India and houses 65 of world fortune 500 companies.

The State Government has evolved a new Industrial Policy for the Textile Industry. The State is home for every sector of industry such as, Information Technology, Bio-technology, Electronics, Telecom, Aerospace, Processed Foods, Apparel, Automobiles, Banking and Finance, Mining, Steel, Cement and much more. The State has small, large and medium scale industries providing employment to a large number of people in the State.

Karnataka - the Silicon State - is the most favoured destination for IT and other knowledge based industries. The State has the most investor friendly policy, and has taken major initiatives in the e-governance area. Besides computerising government offices latest information to the farmers regarding techniques of crop production, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fishery, Sericulture and Diary farming has also been computerised.

Andhra Pradesh

Agriculture is the main occupation of about 62 per cent of the people in Andhra Pradesh. Rice is a major food crop and staple food of the State contributing about 77 per cent of the foodgrain production. Other important crops are jowar, bajra, maize, ragi, small millets, pulses, castor, tobacco, cotton and sugarcane. Forests cover 23 per cent of the State's area. Important forest products are teak, eucalyptus, cashew, casurina, bamboo, softwood, etc.

Andhra Pradesh is a mineral rich state, ranking second in India in terms of mineral wealth. For example, the state has about one third of India's limestone reserves, at about 30 billion tonnes. The state ranks first nationwide in hydro electricity generation with national market share of over 11 per cent.

There are several major industries in operation around Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. They manufacture machine tools, synthetic drugs, pharmaceuticals, heavy electrical machinery, fertilisers, electronic equipment, aeronautical parts, cement and cement products, chemicals, asbestos, glass and watches. Andhra Pradesh has the largest deposits of quality chrysolite asbestos in the country. Other important minerals found in the state are copper ore, manganese, mica, coal and limestone. The Singareni Coal Mines supply coal to the entire South India.

The State government also promotes the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Hyderabad. IIIT offers 4-year undergraduate and 2/3 year postgraduate programmes. IBM, Oracle, Signal Tree, Satyam and Motorola have established their corporate schools here.