The Karnataka Government on Monday held an interactive session reaching out to Delhi-based business leaders and investors for its global investors meet, Invest Karnataka 2025. The flagship event, scheduled to take place from February 12 to February 14 at the Bangalore Palace, aims to showcase the state as a premier investment destination and the government’s vision in industrial development.
This year’s theme of the meet, held in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), will be “reimagining growth”, focusing on aerospace and defence, electronics system design and manufacturing, electric vehicles, and green energy.
A three-member Karnataka delegation was led by Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil, and IAS officers S Selvakumar, Principal Secretary for Commerce and Industries; and Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner for Industrial Development. The trio highlighted the state’s potential, industrial ecosystem and investor-friendly policies.
What can investors expect?
Land acquisition: Gunjan Krishna said the government is working on acquiring land around the vicinity of the demand centres such as Bengaluru, Kolar, Ramanagara, Mysuru and Raichur, among others.
“We initiated large-scale land acquisitions to meet the needs of industries. Karnataka now boasts over 200 industrial areas, spanning 85,000 plus acres,” Patil said.
Plug and play model: Like the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, private infrastructure developers participate in the customisation of manufacturing plants. It was made to accommodate for foreign multinational companies that are not enthusiastic about buying land but want only the infrastructure to operate.
Hybrid finance system: Owing to complaints regarding high land prices around the state capital and the lack of financial support from banks, the Government has introduced a public-private partnership where banks can fund projects and land purchase based on the viability of the business.
Labour policies: S Selvakumar highlighted fixed-term employment, which allows businesses to scale up labour capacity to meet seasonal demands, and policies that foster an inclusive work environment for women, which include flexible work timings.
New clearance processes: In order to simplify investment processes, the state will inaugurate a new single-window system, a clearance platform with an approval discovery tool, incentive calculator, a multi-lingual AI chatbot and a mobile-friendly interface. The system has been developed in cooperation with Microsoft.
Noting that many investors face difficulty in understanding the kinds of approvals needed for their sectors, Krishna said that the generative AI will help users solve this problem.
“Whether it is a multinational (corporation) looking to expand its presence in India or an emerging business exploring new opportunities, Karnataka offers an environment ripe with possibilities,” S Selvakumar said.
Strategic advantages and resources: Selvakumar spoke on the strategic advantages of the state. With nearly 2 billion metric tonnes of iron ore reserves, Karnataka hosts 18 steel manufacturing units and contributes 13.7 per cent to India’s steel production.
Legacy of pioneering: In her pitch, Krishna highlighted the state’s legacy of spearheading transformative initiatives, citing the establishment of the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) to its pioneering role in renewable energy production in Asia.
She said that approximately 400 of the Fortune 500 companies have offices in Karnataka owing to its high ranking in innovation in technology, ease of doing business, and logistics network.
“Our thriving ecosystem is strengthened by 15,000-plus venture capital and corporate venture funds, 17,000-plus angel investors, and more than 400 research and development centres and chip design houses,” MB Patil said.
“Karnataka is an extraordinary journey, ready to make its mark on the global stage. With a robust industrial ecosystem, our state has become the cornerstone of India’s economic strength,” he added.
Karnataka is more than IT: Krishna emphasised that the state is more than just the information technology capital of India. She said Karnataka contributes to 60 per cent of exports in the aerospace and defence sector of India and 52 per cent of machine tools, “the building block of industry”.
Green manufacturing: In terms of renewable energy, Krishna said that 65 per cent of Karnataka’s energy comes from renewable sources, said Krishna.
Taking climate change into account, she estimated that manufacturing would soon incorporate “green processes” and that the European Union and the US could impose qualitative restrictions on imports manufactured using hydrocarbon fuels, which could harm revenue and prospects of undertakings.
Considering these risks, she advised investors to choose Karnataka as “an (environmentally friendly) option” with “the largest market in open access”.
Moreover, she explained that if a business invests in an independent power producer with a 26 per cent equity stake, then it can avail of the energy at half the cost and earn carbon credits.
Incentives: The state is currently providing turnover-based incentives—based on its turnover, a business gets an incentive between 1.75 to 2.5 per cent. The incentive will be given over a period of seven to 10 years depending on where in Karnataka the business is based, said Krishna.
Under the new industrial policy, which will be unveiled in the summit, investors will be provided the flexibility to choose between the capital-based subsidy or the turnover-based subsidy. To ensure “equitable distribution of industries”, the subsidies will vary by location, she added. All parts except Bengaluru are eligible for subsidy.
R&D and GCCs: Krishna said that Karnataka contributes 40 per cent to research and development in India. “We are the leader in global capability centres (GCCs). Around 30 per cent of the global capability centres are located in Karnataka,” she said.
Green mobility policy: Ranking fourth in the country’s automotive industry, Karnataka was the first state to introduce an electric vehicle policy. Krishna announced that the state would most likely unveil its green mobility policy in the investors meet.
Policy continuity: In addition to public-private partnerships, well-developed infrastructure, a diverse pool of human capital, and a wide range of businesses, the state’s success story lies in policy continuity, said Patil.
“Karnataka’s growth story has been shaped by a commitment to fostering a stable and supportive environment for industries. As a policy driven state, we have a legacy of policy continuity across successive governments,” the large and medium industries minister said.
Selvakumar spoke about the affidavit-based clearing system that was introduced by the previous Government in 2020-21 but never took off. It has been reintroduced. It enables enterprises to commence operations for the first three years without requiring multiple clearances.
Over 5,000 delegates
Poised to host over 5,000 delegates in this year’s edition, the global investors meet will feature over 100 speakers—from chief technology officers to political leaders—and over 30 technical and cultural programmes. Details of the speakers will be published on the official website.
The event will also feature a session called Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Connect.
Forty-five finalists of a startup challenge from around the world have been chosen to pitch their ventures at the event. The startup challenge has three tracks—aerospace and defence, electronics system design and manufacturing and electric vehicles. The winners in each track will get $100,000.
Gunjan Krishna (second from left), MB Patil (centre) and Dr S Selvakumar (second from right). (Express Photo: Soham Naha) 
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