Karnataka strikes gold at Davos, bags Rs 52,000 crore worth investments

Karnataka struck gold at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos with a renewable energy company signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to invest Rs 50,000 crore in the state in the next seven years. The company inked the MoU with the state government officials in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Davos on Tuesday.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said the company plans to invest in renewable energy, battery storage and green hydrogen units which has the potential to create employment opportunities for 30,000 people. The CM termed the MoU “a major milestone in the renewable energy sector in the state,” reports The New Indian Express.

Investment in two phases

In the first phase, Rs 11,900 crore would be invested in the ongoing projects in the state which would be operationalised in the next two years. In the second phase, the company plans to invest Rs 37,500 crore to set up renewable energy and green hydrogen units over the next five years. The company already runs wind, solar and hydro power projects in nine states, including Karnataka.

Also read: Bommai, Jagan & Thackeray make a beeline for WEF’s Davos annual meet

Another MoU was signed with Lulu International Group for an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the state. The Lulu Group plans to open four shopping malls, a hypermarket and an export-oriented agri-processing unit, projects that are expected to create employment opportunities for 10,000 people. Director of Lulu International Group AV Anantharaman, who met the CM in Davos, signed the MoU with state government officials.

Bommai meet industry leaders

Bommai held a series of meetings with major industry leaders, including heads of Jubilant Group, Hitachi, Siemens, Hero Motocorp, Dassault Systems and Nestle. Bommai also met Chairman and CEO of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal; Chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani; CEO of Johnson Controls, George Oliver.

The chief minister invited Jubilant Group to explore investment opportunities in pharma and FMCG sectors and made a pitch for the FMCG Park being set up in Dharwad. The group, the New Indian Express reported, is keen to establish its R&D unit on a 10-acre plot at Devanahalli. Presently, about 9,000 people are working with Jubilant Group in the state, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

During talks with the CM, Hitachi representatives expressed their interest to set up an EV charging infrastructure unit in the state. Hitachi Energy has its head office in Bengaluru and is building an engineering centre which will engage about 2,000 engineers, the CMO statement said.

CMO statement said Dassault evinced interest to invest in EV, modern production systems, industrial training for students in Digital 4.0 technology and Smart City project. Nestle showed interest in expanding the Nestle Instant Coffee unit in Nanjangud. The ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ project was discussed with Siemens to draw investments to Tumakuru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Mysuru.

Telangana bags 600-cr investments

Meanwhile, the neighbouring Telangana lured investments worth Rs 600 crore, and commitments for setting up offices of Swiss Re, a Switzerland-based insurance company, and Meesho, an e-commerce company.

Swiss Re said it would start an office in Hyderabad with an initial staff of 250 and the city office would focus on data and digital capabilities, product modelling and risk management.

Also announcing its intention to set up its facility in Hyderabad was Meesho, an e-commerce company which said it would work with the state government to onboard retail sellers in Tier-II towns in the state.

IT and industries minister K T Rama Rao held a series of meetings with various industry leaders at the Telangana pavilion at the WEF. The largest investment commitment came from the Lulu Group, which said it would invest Rs 500 crore in the state in the food processing sector. The announcement came at a meeting Rama Rao had with Lulu Group head Yusuf Ali, reports the Deccan Herald.

Yusuf Ali said that besides this investment, Lulu Group also had plans of setting up another unit in the food processing sector and an official announcement would be made soon.

Also read: WEF Davos summit: 300 govt leaders expected; Sitharaman, three CMs to attend from India

The company’s unit would export food products from Telangana to Europe and other parts of the world. The Lulu group also plans to invest more in the construction of large-scale commercial complexes in the state. “We have already selected several areas in Hyderabad city in this regard and are in talks with the respective property owners. Our aim is to build an excellent shopping mall of international standards in Hyderabad city,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chemo, the Spanish multinational, said it would invest about Rs 100 crore to expand their site in Hyderabad over the next two years. The investments will go used to set up a second line of production in Hyderabad to manufacture pharmaceutical finished dosage forms.