Karnataka delegation receives $6.2 billion investment offer in Europe

Karnataka has received investment offers worth $6.2 billion from various European companies and business conglomerates, Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, Biotechnology, said on Tuesday. science and technology.

The minister led a business exploration delegation to London, France, Germany, Switzerland and other EU countries and met senior officials of various companies.

“We met with senior decision-makers at numerous companies and received investment offers of $6.2 billion as an immediate result of our company exploration tours. We hope that a majority of them will turn into real businesses on the ground,” Kharge said while addressing a press conference at Vidhana Soudha here.

Types of investments

On the type of companies that have expressed interest in investing in the state, he said it’s a mix of sectors ranging from chip design and semiconductor companies to aerospace and defense and that several of them were requests for the establishment of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in Karnataka. .

Responding to a reporter’s question on how many jobs these projects could create, the minister said, “The proposed GCCs alone will create 35,000 to 40,000 jobs in the state. » Mr. Kharge said that Karnataka had embarked on a “hyper-growth” phase.

The delegation also visited California and Massachusetts in the United States and participated in the “BIO International Convention 2024” held in San Diego, attended by 18,500 industry leaders from around the world entire.

“Our goal was to showcase our infrastructure and policy landscape to biotechnology companies and industry bodies in the United States, and also explore the future global expansion plans of the country’s electronics and biotechnology companies,” he said. he declared.

For collaborations

Sharath Bache Gowda, president of KEONICS, who was also part of the delegation, said high-level meetings were held with the Salk Institute, Kyoto University, Biocom California and the Biotechnology Center of the University of Pennsylvania to explore collaborations in health technology, agritechnology, and the upcoming Biobanking and Antivenon Research Development Center. Additionally, government-business meetings were held with biotechnology companies such as Aragen, Mabion and Enzene and their interest in foraying into Karnataka was explored.

“We know that Bangalore is a global leader on many fronts. But when we meet people and businesses from different cities around the world, we know that we are an even bigger brand,” Mr. Gowda said.

PMO forces multinationals to invest in Gujarat: Priyank Kharge

The Prime Minister’s Office has been forcing multinational companies coming to Karnataka to invest in Gujarat or other states, Kharge alleged on Tuesday.

He said he could cite several examples, but would only do so at the appropriate time, otherwise it would embarrass global investors. Mr. Kharge said he would visit Delhi on Wednesday and one of the agenda items was to meet the Finance Minister and request him to give Karnataka the same incentives as the Center offered to Gujarat.

“I can give five or six examples. But we are keeping quiet because it will embarrass businesses. We are also trying to see if we can have the same GIFT city as them,” he said. “Who can say no when the Prime Minister tells them to set up the company only here (in Gujarat)? » asked Mr. Kharge.

It may be recalled that recently, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy raised questions over whether a US-based semiconductor manufacturer could receive a subsidy of ₹3.2 crore for every job created in Gujarat. Even Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had spoken about investors being forced to go to Gujarat.