The new Drones and EV Cluster launched on Friday in Belagavi by the state government under the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), got tremendous response on the first day itself, with the submission of letters of interest (LOIs) by 16 companies to invest Rs 400 crore and generate around 12,000 job opportunities. Nine of these companies are based in Belagavi, while the rest are from different parts of the state.
To promote Belagavi as the go-to industrial cluster and position it as a global hub for drones and electric vehicles, KDEM launched the DRoEV 2023, along with industry partners at a private hotel in Belagavi on Friday. According to KDEM sources, two locations have been identified within 30 km vicinity of Belagavi to develop the Drones & EV Cluster, in around 250 acres of land.
The DRoEV 2023 helped to unplug the potential of Belagavi, which is a second largest exporter to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore after Bengaluru, and second largest GDP contributor. The city has seven industrial areas, one aerospace SEZ, 16,000 MSMEs, and many engineering institutes including Gogte Institute of Technology (GIT), KLES Sheshagiri Engineering College, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Dharwad.
Minister of electronics and information technology CN Ashwath Narayan, who participated virtually, said there is a target of establishing 50-60 companies working in drones and EV segment within next three years in Belagavi.
He said under ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ concept, the companies investing in Belagavi or other parts of the state will get incentive from the government. As far as drones and electric vehicles are concerned, industry will get a good policy from the state government aiding growth.
BV Naidu, Chairman, KDEM said, “Belagavi is a great location, and this cluster will help develop an ecosystem for the sector with its proximity to industry hubs, R&D centres, educational institutions, and global networks for the nation.”
EV Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, Dept of Electronics, IT-BT and Science and Technology, said: “emerging clusters outside Bengaluru, like Hubballi-Dharwad- Belagavi, are exerting more significant influence. We are excited to see the interest from the industry drones and EV segment,” he said.
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, KDEM said: “Belagavi has provided a fertile ecosystem for many emerging startups across manufacturing and technology sectors. The Indian EV & drones market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50% & 10% respectively for the next 5 years and Karnataka will play a leading role in this growth.”
