Karnataka expects nearly 400 investors to ink MoUs for projects with an envisaged investment of Rs 3.5 lakh crore during the two-day mega event Global Investors' Meet (GIM), which commenced today.

"....nearly 400 investors will be signing the MoUs with us today and tomorrow for implementation of their projects with an investment of about Rs 3.5 lakh crore and employment for over 6.5 lakh people," Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said at the inaugural function.

He said leading banks and other financial institutions have come forward to sign MoUs with the Karnataka government for providing loans and financial assistance to these investors.

Yeddyurappa said his government is developing software, hardware and aerospace parks near Bengaluru International Airport in about 3,000 acres.

"We also propose to develop an Information Technology Investment Region with an area of 10,000 acres in North Bangalore," he said.

The BJP government in Karnataka has projected the GIM, aimed at vigorously wooing private investment, as a major event of the two-year-old Yeddyurappa regime, holding roadshows in India and overseas in the run-up to the show.

GIM was inaugurated by the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, who spoke about Karnataka's advantages in terms of a huge network of educational institutions, trained manpower and "reasonable infrastructure". Now the challenge is to convert the envisaged investment into reality, he said.

Corporate bigwigs like L N Mittal, Kumaramangalam Birla, Azim Premji, Vijay Mallya, S Gopalakrishnan, Shashi Ruia, and Venu Srinivasan spoke at the inaugural at the sprawling Palace grounds.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily opened the exhibition, while Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai released the sector and district profiles.

Yeddyurappa said the state government is creating a land bank in every district for investors.

"We have already notified about 63,000 acres of land for acquisition and another 40,000 acres will be acquired, based on the demand," he said.

He said more than 100 infrastructure projects have been proposed for private investment in the GIM. This includes 18 industrial estates with an area ranging from 30 acres to 2,500 acres.