Karnataka attracted investment commitment of Rs 65,000 crore at WEF meet: Basavaraj Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the State government has succeeded in drawing investment commitment worth about Rs 65,000 crore with its participation at the World Economic Forum Meet in Davos, Switzerland. Karnataka is at the forefront in attracting investments and the WEF Meet has proved to be a "success", he said, as he asserted that the State has "not lost or is not going to lose" in attracting investments in the backdrop of such concerns citing certain developments locally.

"Investment commitments worth Rs 60,000 crore-65,000 crore are expected to flow into the State after our discussions with about 25 companies during the Davos meet," Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters after returning from Davos, he said the investments are a proof of the immense trust and faith Karnataka enjoys, especially with regard to its technology base, skilled manpower, among the top corporates of the world.

"They are of the opinion that Karnataka is the destination for investment in new technologies...the government is committed to ensuring implementation of these investment commitments with an end-to-end approach," he said, adding that all these projects would be sanctioned in six months and it may take one to two years for realisation, while renewable energy related ones would take 5-7 years.

The government is expecting a good response to its Global Investors' Meet to be held in Bengaluru in November and the Bengaluru Tech Summit after this Davos meet.

To a question about neighbouring Andhra Pradesh claiming a higher investment of Rs 1,25,000 crore investment, Bommai said Karnataka cannot be compared with any other States, as the State has international standards and is attracting investment from companies of similar standards.

"We will also have similar numbers, for example Adani group has committed a project worth Rs 50,000 crore, but they have not signed an MoU, but they have committed. Also, we have had investments in important areas of the future like hydrogen fuels, semiconductor, defence, aerospace," he said, adding that he has explained to business leaders including Lakshmi Mittal (Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal) about 'Ease of Doing Business' policy of Karnataka.

Detailing about investment proposals, the Chief Minister said ReNew Power Pvt. Ltd, has signed an MoU for an investment of Rs 50,000 crore spread over the next seven years for setting up renewable energy, battery storage, green hydrogen units with employment opportunities for about 30,000 people.

The company intends to implement the projects in two phases, he said. In the first phase, the projects which are already under implementation would be operationalised within two years with an investment of Rs 11,900 crore, and in the second phase Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen units would be set up over the next five years at an investment of Rs 37,500 crore.

Further, Lulu Group International has inked an MoU for investing Rs 2,000 crore, Bommai said, adding, the company is keen to open four shopping malls, hyper market and export-oriented agro-products stores in the State with employment potential for more than 10,000 people.

Jubilant Group's Jubilant Food Works has decided to set up its new centralised kitchen and Jubilant Biosys has agreed to set up its R & D Centre in Devanahalli in a 10-acre plot and would be investing Rs 700 crore this year. About 9,000 people are already employed in the company.

A detailed presentation has also been made for the company to convince about attractive incentive packages to invest in pharma and FMCG sectors in the State with major focus on the FMCG Park being developed in Dharwad.

Hitachi Energy has shown interest in setting up EV charging infrastructure, renewable energy and digitalisation projects, and is keen on employing about 2,000 engineers this year.

Siemens Healthineers is undertaking R & D in healthcare projects focussing 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. Thus, the company is keen to invest a total of over Rs 1,600 crore in the State.

Further noting that the Hero group has discussed setting up EV manufacturing, the Chief Minister said, "We have asked them to consider the north Karnataka region and we will provide incentives."

Under the 'Beyond Bengaluru' programme, the State government discussed investment opportunities in cities like Tumakuru, Hubli-Dharwad, and Mysuru.

"Ab InBev" intends to set up a non-alcoholic beverages unit in the State with an investment of Rs 50 crore, while Nestle is set to expand and modernise its existing Instant Coffee unit in Nanjangud with an investment of Rs 700 crore.

Dassault Systems has evinced interest to invest in Electric Vehicles, Modern Production systems in association with Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, industrial training for students in Digital 4.0 technology and Smart City project in Karnataka with total investments of Rs 300 crore.

Schneider Electric is planning to consolidate their 5-6 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.

ArcelorMittal plans to set up a solar-wind hybrid project with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore, while Bharti Enterprises plans to set up a Mega Data Centre in Karnataka in addition to their existing Data Centres.

Apart from these, Adani Group, Dalmia Cement, Johnson Controls, Honeywell, IBM, IKEA Stores, PayPal, Axis Bank have shown interest to invest in various sectors of the State.

Discussions with corporate honchos, included opportunities for setting up mega textiles park at Bijapur/Kalaburagi, production of metro train Coaches, and pharma units.

This was Bommai's first overseas trip as Chief Minister.