Karnataka signs letters of intent worth Rs 2600 cr; 3,500 jobs to be created

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has signed letters of intent (LOIs) worth Rs 2,600 crore with companies such as Drone Federation of India, Global HDI and Eyestem Research, and these would generate 3,500 direct and indirect jobs. IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday announced that these are across sectors such as semiconductor, EV battery and biotech.

On the sidelines of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2025, the minister also announced that various MoUs have been signed including the one with semiconductor company Marvell to train 90 women in semiconductor-VLSI design and embedded skills.

KEONICS Chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda said the LoI covers Drone Federation of India, which has committed Rs 25-100 crore investment to set up a drone testing facility at Chintamani. The Drone Federation of India will bring in the LoIs for companies to utilise the facility. Global HDI will establish a multi-layer PCB (printed circuit boards) plant with an investment outlay of Rs 1,500 crore.

The LoIs also include Eyestem Research's cell therapy and R&D manufacturing facility with an investment outlay of Rs 130 crore.

These LoIs and MoUs have been announced under the Local Economy Accelerator Program (LEAP) including Elevate Next (Deeptech) and Elevate Beyond Bengaluru.

The minister said LEAP is a Rs 1,000 crore initiative, designed to strengthen emerging clusters outside Bengaluru by providing access to infrastructure, funding, and sector-specific support.

The Karnataka government also announced the rollout of Deeptech Elevate and Elevate Beyond Bengaluru.

Deeptech Elevate will commence on 1 January 2026, providing targeted grant-in-aid to accelerate cutting-edge Deeptech innovation. Elevate Beyond Bengaluru will be launched on 1 February 2026, and it will focus on catalysing entrepreneurial growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

About 40 startups selected under Deeptech Elevate will receive grants ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, and 50 start-ups under Elevate Beyond Bengaluru will be supported with grants of up to Rs 50 lakh, Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda said addressing a press conference here.