Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday called on Toyota Kirloskar Motor to bring the latest technology to India that is not launched anywhere else in the world.
“Please use new technology, which is not launched anywhere in the world. Don't bring oldies and show them as a new model. My engineering instinct will never agree to it, though as a chief minister I may say it's okay,” Bommai said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Karnataka government and Toyota Kirloskar Motor for new investments of Rs 4,800 crore.
The investment comprises Rs 4,100 crore by Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts, and Rs 700 crore by the Toyota Industries Engine Private Limited.
“I welcome the investment by Toyota, but I want the best of technology, the best of Toyota's in the world to be manufactured at the Bidadi-based unit (near Bengaluru). That's my expectation and I am sure your management will look into it,” Bommai said.
The chief minister asked Toyota to also increase its market share in India and launch its new products first in the country.
Speaking about the role of Toyota in Karnataka, Bommai said the decision of the Karnataka government in 1987 had led to a spurt in business and automobile and industrial activities in the state.
“The company created an ecosystem, technology-related research and development and application sciences. That's the benefit Karnataka has got,” Bommai told a gathering.
He assured the company of safety and said the firm has a bright future because it is in the hands of forward-looking administrators.
The chief minister mooted the idea of 'eco-economics' also, saying ecology has to be maintained. “There is something new that has come now: Eco-economics wherein the ecological and economical challenges go together, complementing each other. Earlier, both were confronting each other but now there is harmony,” Bommai said.
Asking Toyota Kirloskar Motor to take part in the Global Investors' Meet from November 2 to 4, he said the automobile domain is an important sector, which has the calibre to generate maximum employment and trigger economic activities.
