Modi says India best for investments; JSW, Adani commit Rs 1 trn in K’taka

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a pitch for India as the best destination for global investors, and a reliable player in supply chains, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, on the first day of the global investor meet Invest Karnataka 2022.

“Investing in India means investing in inclusion, in democracy, and investing for the world, and for a better, cleaner, and safer planet,” Modi said.

The event saw India’s top business groups detailing their investment plans for the state over the next few years.

Referring to the sense of global optimism towards India, the PM said that these were uncertain times, but still, most nations were convinced about the fundamentals of the Indian economy. In this period of fragmentation, India was moving with the world, and giving emphasis on working with the world, he added.

On the first day, the JSW and Adani groups said they would each invest Rs 1 trillion in Karnataka, as they looked to expand their presence in the state. JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal said the Rs 1-trillion investment committed by his conglomerate was in addition to the Rs 1 trillion already invested in the state and would be spread over five years.

Adani Ports and SEZ Chief Executive Officer Karan Adani, the son of Gautam Adani, said the investment lined by his group would go into sectors such as renewable energy, cement, airports, and edible oils. This would happen over the next seven years.

The Vedanta group committed Rs 80,000 crore at the summit, according to company officials, for investments in renewable energy, gold, and iron ore mining.

While ACME Solar, ABC Cleantech and ReNew Power said they would each bring in Rs 50,000 crore into Karnataka, Sterlite Power said it would plough in a large part of its Rs 50,000-crore investment in the state.

“Over the next five years, we have planned to increase our renewable energy capacities ten-fold and invest close to Rs 50,000 crore in renewable energy generation.

This means a large chunk of that investment will come to Karnataka,” Pratik Agarwal, managing director, Sterlite Power, said.

Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, said it was planning to invest Rs 15,000 crore in Karnataka, while Reliance Jio said it was committing to spend Rs 11,000 crore in the state.

“We will be launching 5G in Karnataka by December or January,” Rajan Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said at the summit.

The three-day summit began on Wednesday, with investments worth nearly Rs 5.6 trillion committed by India Inc so far, and deals worth Rs 7.5 trillion expected to be struck in total. Over 20 Indian and global companies signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Karnataka government on Wednesday.

A number of business exhibitions with more than 300 exhibitors, and country sessions would run concurrently. The country sessions would be hosted by partner countries — France, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, and Australia — which would bring in high-level ministerial and industrial delegations from their respective countries.