‘Invest Karnataka 2022’ event all set to be a grand affair

ADVANTAGE KARNATAKA

‘Invest Karnataka 2022’ event all set to be a grand affair

The theme of the upcoming Global Investor Meet (GIM) in Karnataka is ‘Build for the World’ reflecting the role the state aims to play in the global supply chain. As part of GIM, a curtain raiser event was held in Delhi in April, followed by a launch at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May.

The Karnataka government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is making preparations for holding a Global Investor Meet (GIM) titled ‘Invest Karnataka 2022’ at Bengaluru during November 2-4, 2022. The Chief Minister has already launched the logo and theme for the three-day event.

The theme of the 2022 edition of GIM is ‘Build for the World’ reflecting the role Karnataka aims to play in the global supply chain. As part of GIM, a curtain raiser event was held in Delhi in April, followed by a launch at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May. Roadshows are also being conducted in major cities and abroad.

By organising the event, the Karnataka government aims to attract investments from around the world. Karnataka previously hosted a GIM in 2016, which concluded with 1,201 approved projects and MoUs valued at Rs 3,08,810 crore.

During the launch of the theme of the GIM 2022, the Chief Minister said, "Investors have always believed in Karnataka and created the capability for the state to host a GIM. The post-COVID economic growth is the right time to invest in Bengaluru which is not only an IT, BT hub but also a financial hub."

Bommai called upon Murugesh Nirani, Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, to bring in a broad-spectrum and holistic investment across sectors - semiconductors, electronics, defence, aerospace, energy, biotechnology, IT, manufacturing, MSMEs and cottage industries. "The aim is to envision a 'New Karnataka for New India' - creating new 21st century industrial townships and corridors," Bommai said.

GIM will comprise plenary sessions, panel discussions and multiple networking opportunities. Over 50 business, political and thought leaders will deal themes and sectors crucial to Karnataka's growth story. More than 5,000 senior delegates across sectors including Manufacturing, Infrastructure, IT, Energy, Education, Tourism are expected to participate.

The Karnataka Government points out that the state has an outstanding industrial ecosystem for all major industries. For instance, Karnataka is known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ and is home to over 400 MNCs with global R&D centres. Moreover, Bangalore alone produces 60% of the total value of machine tools manufactured in India. Similarly, Karnataka is the second highest producer of special purpose and heavy electrical machinery in India.

Karnataka is also the second largest chip design hub in the country, the largest software exporter in India and has a GSDP of US Dollars 230 billion.

The state is also the first in total exports among all Indian states and is the fourth largest technology cluster in the world. It enjoys the first position among R&D Centres in India, in Renewable Energy and in India Innovation Index. In fact, it is home to 400 Fortune 500 Companies.

With 65% of India’s Aerospace-related exports originating from Karnataka, the state is a preferred investor destination for Aerospace & Defence companies. Karnataka is a leading contributor to the success of Pharma, Biotech and medical devices in the country also.

Karnataka is a global innovation and startup hub too, with more than 400 global R&D centres and 4000+ startups in Bangalore. No wonder, the state has been ranked first In NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index. Now, the third highest number of startups globally is based in Bangalore.

Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj S Bommai, Industries Minister Dr. Murugesh R Nirani, Additional Chief Secretary in the department of Industries Dr.EV Ramana Reddy, CM’s Principal Secretary N Manjunatha Prasad and Commissioner in the department of Industries Gunjan Krishna in the Karnataka Pavilion at World Economic Forum (WEF) meet held at Davos, Switzerland.

Karnataka attracts investments worth Rs 59,350 cr at Davos

A delegation led by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to the recent World Economic Forum meet held at Davos, Switzerland carried out fruitful talks to attract investments to the state

Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai led a delegation from the state to the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet held at Davos, Switzerland recently. During the event, the members of the Karnataka delegation engaged in talks with several global corporate leaders to attract investments to Karnataka.

Karnataka has been among the states attracting the largest investments in India and the WEF meet also proved to be a success. At WEF, two major companies inked MoUs with the Karnataka Government to invest a total Rs 52,000 crore, which is the biggest investment flow to the state in the recent past. In total, the Karnataka Government succeeded in

attracting investments worth Rs 59,350 crore with its participation at the WEF Meet in Davos.

“These investments are a proof of the immense trust and faith Karnataka enjoys among the top corporates of the world,” said the Chief Minister.

ReNew Power to invest Rs 50,000 cr

One among the two companies is ReNew Power Pvt. Ltd., which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for an investment of Rs 50,000 crore spread over the next seven years for setting up renewable energy, battery storage and green hydrogen units which would create around 30,000 employment opportunities.

The company intends to implement the projects in two phases. In the first phase, the projects which are already under implementation would be modernised within two years with an investment of Rs 11,900 crore. In the second phase, renewable energy and green hydrogen units would be set up over the next five years at Rs 37,500 crore.

The second company investing in Karnataka is LuLu Group International, which signed an MoU for investing Rs 2,000 crore. The company would be opening four shopping malls, hypermarkets and export-oriented agroproducts stores in the state with employment potential for more than 10,000 persons.

“These MoUs complement the growth of industrial and energy sectors in the state providing employment for more than 40,000 persons,” said Bommai.

Apart from ReNew Power and LuLu, several other companies have evinced keen interest in investing in Karnataka. They include Jubilant Group, Hitachi Energy, Siemens, Ab Inbev, Dassault Systemes, Nestle, Arcelor Mittal and Bharti Enterprises.

Jubilant Group, Hitachi

Jubilant Food Works will set up its new centralized kitchen and Jubilant Biosys has agreed to set up its R&D Centre in Devanahalli on a 10 acre plot. About 9,000 persons are already employed by the company.

A detailed presentation was made for the company explaining the attractive incentive packages to invest in pharma and FMCG sectors in the state with major focus on the FMCG Park being developed in Dharwad.

Meanwhile, Hitachi Energy has expressed interest in setting up EV charging infrastructure, renewable energy and digitalization projects in Karnataka.

Siemens Healthineers

The company is undertaking R&D in healthcare projects focusing on magnetic imaging and diagnostics with an investment of Rs 1,300 crore. The state government has assured special incentives for setting up advanced manufacturing of medical devices to cater to the local market with an investment of Rs 300 crore, and so the company is keen to invest a total of over Rs 1,600 crore in Karnataka.

‘Beyond Bengaluru’

Under the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ programme, the state government is inviting investments in other cities such as Tumakuru, Hubli-Dharwad and Mysuru.

Among the firms investing

in places outside Bengaluru is Nestle, which is set to expand and modernize its existing instant coffee unit in Nanjangud with an investment of Rs 700 crore.

Ab InBev also intends to set up a non-alcoholic beverages unit in the state with an investment of Rs 50 crore. “Discussed #BeyondBengaluru opportunities with #Siemens at the #WEF22. I look forward to a fruitful partnership that will encourage growth in healthcare R&D and medical device manufacturing,” said Bommai in a tweet.

Dassault Systemes

Global firm Dassault Systemes has evinced interest in investing in electric vehicles and modern production systems in association with CMTI; industrial training for students in Digital 4.0 technology and Smart City project in Karnataka with total investments of Rs 300 crore.

“Dassault Systemes is keen to partner with Karnataka to set up a centre of excellence for electric vehicles and a manufacturing institute. Apart from this, they hope to work on our smart city projects and in the space of educating our students in cutting edge technologies,” said the Chief Minister.

Other investments

Schneider Electric is planning to consolidate its six facilities in Attibele to a single unit in Jigani with additional capacity for manufacturing new models of Data Centre UPS and energy efficient devices with an investment of Rs 300 crore.

Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal would be setting up a solarwind hybrid project with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore. Another investment is by Bharti Enterprises, which is planning to set up a Mega Data Centre in Karnataka in addition to their existing Data Centres.

Apart from these companies, Adani Group, Dalmia Cement, Johnson Controls, Honeywell, IBM, Ikea Stores, PayPal and Axis Bank have announced that they would be investing in various sectors in the state.

“I am pleased to announce that @IKEAIndia will be opening their flagship store in Nagasandra in June 2022. We are also in talks with the organisation to encourage local manufacturing, thus boosting employment and economic growth,” tweeted the Chief Minister.

Breakfast meeting

Heads of major multinational corporations and prominent non-resident Indian entrepreneurs participated in the breakfast meeting hosted by Chief Minister Bommai at Davos. They included founder of Indiaspora in the USA M R Rangaswami; Chairman of Indorama Corporation in Singapore Prakash Lohia; Managing Director of Hitachi Japan Bharat Kaul and Chairman of VPS Healthcare in UAE Shamsheer Valayil.

Discussions with these corporate leaders dealt with opportunities for setting up mega Textiles Park at Bijapur/ Kalaburagi, production of Metro train coaches and setting up pharma units.

The Chief Minister also held deliberations with the