The Karnataka government is expecting a 'potential expression of interest' from the US companies to invest $3 billion (around Rs 25,000 crore) in the state.
Following a 12-day visit to the US, Karnataka large and medium industries minister MB Patil, and IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge, spoke to reporters in Bengaluru on October 12. They said Karnataka has become the preferred destination in the evolving geopolitical landscape.
Also, read: Karnataka to launch dedicated platform to facilitate investments by US companies
Patil said, "A large number of global investors and companies view India as an attractive and secure destination for investment, with Karnataka remaining the top choice for foreign investments. This is due to its industry-friendly policies, attractive incentives, and the availability of a technically qualified and skilled workforce."
During their visit, the delegation held 36 meetings with various companies to explore investment opportunities in electronics and semiconductors, aerospace and defence, automotive and electric vehicles, precision manufacturing, and medical technology sectors.
"We've garnered investment interest close to $3 billion," said Patil.
They held meetings with global companies such as Applied Materials, AMD, Juniper, Global Foundries, LAM Research, Boeing, Krypton, Dell, MKS Instruments, Teradyne, GE Healthcare, Intelsat, RTX, Texas Instruments, Apple, and Waters Corporation, among others.
Also read: Juniper Networks likely to establish hardware manufacturing facility in Karnataka
Patil noted, "These companies have expressed interest in either expanding their existing presence in Karnataka or making their initial investments in the state."
Discussions with industry leaders centred on joint skilling initiatives, expanding the supplier base, strengthening the existing R&D ecosystem, and collaborating on the establishment of Centers of Excellence in conjunction with the state government.
Patil said they are providing additional incentives to firms investing in districts outside Bengaluru, but most tech firms are keen to operate in Bengaluru due to its proximity to the airport. "We will soon revisit our industrial policy to attract investments to our state," he added.
Major investment proposals
According to ministers, Applied Materials, a semiconductor machinery manufacturing company, is considering expanding its R&D facility in Whitefield, Bengaluru, with an investment of $400 million.
Also, read: Applied Materials seeks approvals from Karnataka government to set up R&D lab in Bengaluru
Separately, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) plans to establish its largest design centre in Bengaluru, consolidating its existing three sites in the city and investing an additional $400 million in the coming years.
Similarly, Global Foundries, a leading semiconductor company, expressed interest in increasing its workforce by 25 percent, with full support from the state to facilitate the required workforce availability.
Also, read: LAM Research plans to set up semiconductor lab in Karnataka
RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), the world's largest aerospace and defence company, showed interest in expanding its engineering centre.
Intelsat (International Telecommunications Satellite Organization) explored the possibility of establishing a global capability centre as part of its long-term plans in India.
Waters Corporation, a Massachusetts-based analytical laboratory instrument and software company, has shown an interest in investing $16 million (Rs 133 crore) to establish its global capability centre in Bengaluru's RMZ Ecoworld.
Texas-based Krypton Solutions is considering expanding its Printed Circuit Board fabrication facility in Karnataka.
Also, read: Krypton Solutions likely to invest $100 million in Karnataka
Meetings with GE Healthcare and GE Vernova revolved around recommendations for a new industrial policy, eligibility criteria, incentive disbursement structure, and exploring investment opportunities for policy scope, as well as pump storage projects for storing excess energy from solar, wind, and other sources during high-demand periods.
The delegation also met with startups such as Fictive, LeoLab, and T-seconds, which are involved in linking MSMEs to potential customers, radar technology for satellite monitoring in space, and data storage.
Additionally, a meeting was held with Gita Gopinath, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to discuss strategies for addressing labour force imbalances and exploring the design and efficiency of the PLI scheme and its distribution.
Patil said that the Karnataka government would organise the next global investors’ meet (GIM) at the end of 2024 or in early 2025.
Also, read: Karnataka to set up 'vision groups' for 7 sectors to drive Industrial growth
Initiatives to improve rankings
Stating that Karnataka stands at 18th position in the innovation index, Kharge said that the state was taking many new initiatives to improve the ranking and the aim is to be among the top 10.
He said that companies in the US have been invited to the Tech Summit scheduled for November 29-December 1 in Bengaluru.
He met professors from Stanford Bio Design, who expressed interest in setting up a Center of Excellence (COE) for Medtech. "Several venture capitalists have shown a keen interest in investing in startups with projects that will have a positive social impact," he said.
Also, read: Karnataka govt delegation meets Boeing and GE officials in the US; discusses China+1 strategy with IMF
Kharge also said that TIE Global would host its annual conference in Bengaluru next year, marking the first time this prestigious event would come to India. "This presents a significant opportunity for startups in Karnataka to gain global recognition and contribute to the domestic ecosystem," he said.
"The state, in collaboration with TIE Karnataka, will also participate in this year's TIE Global event in Singapore in November 2023, bringing along 100 startups from Karnataka, many of which have been nurtured under the Elevate program of the IT/BT department," he said.
Further, Kharge said that the purpose of the visit to the US was to attract investment at a time when not only China but other states within the country were competing with each other to attract investors. “We have come out with an innovation in our approach to reach out to the investors and went to their doorsteps in the US to convince them about the opportunities to invest in Karnataka."
Also, read: US firm Waters Corporation to invest $16 million to set up GCC in Bengaluru
Kharge said they are not just competing with countries like China but also with states like Chhattisgarh.
The state government is tying up with AMD to train engineers based on the syllabus provided by the company to meet their requirements for human resources. Kharge said, adding that AMD will be hiring 800 engineers in India.
Also, read: Over 50 countries to participate in Bengaluru Tech Summit from Nov 29 to Dec 1: Karnataka minister
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