Govt spent over Rs 100 crore on 2025 Invest Karnataka summit

Bengaluru: The four-day 2025 Global Investors’ Meet – Invest Karnataka 2025 – held in Bengaluru from February 11 through February 14 cost the state government a staggering Rs 100.69 crore, a 33% increase from the money expended for the 2022 edition of the summit – Rs 74.99 crore.

Data sourced from the Department of Large and Medium Industries revealed that, of the total amount, Rs 2.12 crore was spent on rent for the venue, while advertisement, media outreach and publicity, accounted for the bulk of the expenditure, costing the state Rs 21.83 crore. However, even this expense pales in comparison to the money that the government paid for the services of the event management agency (EMA) that organised the summit.

Of the total of Rs 40 crore paid towards EMA-related services, Rs 9.89 crore was paid to the agency as fee, while additional costs accounted for a further Rs 9.49 crore. The design and fabrication of the Karnataka Pavilion cost Rs 1.48 crore, while initiatives undertaken to revamp the city for the event cumulatively cost Rs 51.54 lakh.

Subject Matter Expert (SME) outreach initiatives cost Rs 75 lakh, while Rs 5.01 lakh were spent on bid management. The inaugural dinner that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted for Ambassadors, and VVIPs cost Rs 48.88 lakh, while Rs 2.72 crore was spent on third-party evaluation.

Roadshows, organised both in India and abroad, proved a huge expense. While international roadshows cost Rs 5.58 crore, roadshows in Chennai (Rs 52.13 lakh), Mumbai (Rs 64.21 lakh) and Delhi (Rs 36.36 lakh) accounted for Rs 1.52 crore. Furthermore, roadshows held in the state cost a further Rs 37.9 lakh. The costs associated with the 2022 edition were markedly less in comparison. Hosted at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, the government paid Rs 1.27 crore in rent for the venue, while national-level promotional events only cost Rs 1.28 crore, while international ones accounted for Rs 3.28 crore. However, as against the Rs 1.52 lakh spent on postage, courier and audit fees in 2025, Rs 4.72 lakh was spent on the same in 2022.