In 2025, Karnataka has attracted investment of ₹10.27 lakh crore through its biannual investment exposition, Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), held in February.
M.B. Patil, Minister for Large and Medium Industries, said that over 60% of these investments have been realised in the 2025 calendar year, while 2026 and 2027 would witness a flurry of activities as these projects would begin to take physical shape on the ground across the State.
‘Beyond Bengaluru’
According to him, over 70% of these investments would go to “Beyond Bangalore” with north Karnataka capturing some 45%. The incentive structure, under the new Karnataka Industrial Policy, promoted investments Beyond Bengaluru by offering capital subsidies of up to 30% and enhanced PLI (production linked incentive) support in these regions, Mr. Patil said.
Mr. Patil said, over and above GIM commitments, an additional investment of ₹30,000 crore came from electronics, aerospace, and manufacturing spaces.
These investments were led by Vayu Assets (for HDI PCB manufacturing), ASM Technologies (ESDM manufacturing and precision engineering), Silfex India Manufacturing, a Lam Research subsidiary (Capital equipment for semiconductor manufacturing for Auto/EV), River (2W EV manufacturing facility), and Volvo (expansion of truck and bus production facility). In the aerospace and defence sector, IndiGo announced investment to set up its second MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) equipped to handle both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, and other industries including Balaji Wafers to open food processing and snacks plants.
However, he said, MoU conversion progress was still under way, adding, with 46% of GIM commitments converted and single-window applications filed. The manufacturing sector has been showing strong traction, with conversion levels at around 60%, the Minister said.
“Each investor has already been assigned a nodal officer to handhold them throughout the application process,” he said. A recent meeting chaired by the Chief Minister reviewed approval processes and directed departments to shorten timelines, the Minister said.
FDI inflows
In addition to GIM investments, the foreign direct investment (FDI) flow to Karnataka stood at $6.63 billion, which is ₹50,000 crore. “Over the years, Karnataka has consistently featured as one of the top States in India for FDI,” said the Minister.
Mr. Patil and his team visited Japan and Korea twice and received investments of ₹6,500 crore and another ₹5,000 crore, during the calendar year 2025. Mr. Patil led business exploratory delegations to at least 10 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and conducted at least 30 meetings with potential investors from diverse industry domains.
On investment outlook for 2026, the Minister said the State has a strong lead pipeline of over ₹1 lakh crore and key sectors that would pump in these investments include, Electronics & Semiconductors (₹50,000 crore), Auto & EV Manufacturing (₹20,000 crore), Aerospace & Defence (₹10,000 crore), core Manufacturing (₹10,000 crore) and others (₹25,000 crore).
The State has an ambitious goal to attract ₹7.5 lakh crore in investments and create 20 lakh jobs by 2030 under the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2025–30.
In the calendar year 2026, a ministerial delegation will be visiting Germany (aerospace) and the U.K. (for other industries) again. In addition, the State would also have a strong presence at the World Economic Forum (WEF) scheduled to take place between January 19 and 23, 2026, at Davos, Switzerland.
Intent and action
Industry observers said that the key thing is to ensure that the intent is converted into action. Harish Bijoor, founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., said, “The ultimate goal is to translate intent into action. We need to track this process with care. Plan, implement and evaluate.”
Murthy B.S., CEO, Leadership Capital, a CXO hiring firm and a people expert said, “Today, investments go where talent goes. Across the entire sunrise sectors of tech, clean energy and EV ecosystem, Karnataka is the clear leader.” The investments in 2025 would create thousands of new jobs in the State in next two years and more jobs in the years after that, Mr. Murhty estimated.
Published – December 27, 2025 06:45 pm IST
