DPIIT Hosts Investor Roundtable in Bengaluru to Boost Southern Industrial Growth

In a significant step toward realizing the national vision of "Viksit Bharat @2047", a high-level Investors Roundtable Conference was successfully organized in Bengaluru under the leadership of Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The event, held as part of the ambitious National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP), aimed to highlight the tremendous industrial potential of southern India and strengthen Centre-State collaboration for accelerated economic development.

The roundtable brought together senior officials, industry leaders, MSMEs, and representatives from major trade associations and state governments, fostering strategic dialogue and exploring avenues to enhance the industrial landscape through innovative, sustainable, and digitally-enabled manufacturing clusters.

Strengthening Southern Industrial Nodes

Secretary Bhatia, in his inaugural address, outlined DPIIT’s robust roadmap for creating world-class industrial infrastructure, emphasizing innovation-driven growth, entrepreneurship, and fostering a vibrant startup ecosystem. He underscored the significance of strong partnerships between central and state governments to ensure rapid industrialization, attract global investments, and position India as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

Senior DPIIT officials also provided crucial updates on various national initiatives aimed at enhancing India's business environment. Among these initiatives discussed were:

• Start-Up India: Empowering entrepreneurship and innovation.

• Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP): Improving ease of doing business.

• National Single Window System (NSWS): Streamlining clearances for investors.

• Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS): Enhancing logistics efficiency and reducing costs.

• Invest India: Promoting India as a premier global investment destination.

These reforms are instrumental in boosting investor confidence, simplifying regulatory procedures, and creating an enabling environment for industrial growth.

Engaging Key Industry Stakeholders

The event featured dynamic interactions with major industry bodies including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Invest India, Peenya Industrial Association, and Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA).

Discussions centered around state-specific issues, investment opportunities, policy interventions, and how the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation’s (NICDC) smart industrial cities can serve as innovation hubs and advanced manufacturing clusters. Stakeholders highlighted industry-specific challenges such as land acquisition, infrastructure development, skill shortages, and technology integration, proposing targeted interventions and solutions.

Strategic Centre-State Collaboration

Parallel to the roundtable, Secretary Bhatia conducted an insightful high-level meeting with senior officials from southern States and Union Territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The discussions concentrated on accelerating industrial node development, harmonizing state industrial policies with national objectives, and resolving implementation challenges to fast-track investment and infrastructure creation.

Among prominent officials present were:

• Shri Sanjay Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Telangana.

• Dr. S. Selvakumar, Principal Secretary, Karnataka.

• Dr. N. Yuvaraj, Secretary, Andhra Pradesh.

• Shri Rajat Kumar Saini, CEO & MD, NICDC.

Showcasing Advanced Manufacturing Capabilities

The DPIIT delegation visited Bengaluru's renowned K-tech MeitY Nasscom Centre of Excellence for IoT & AI, engaging closely with startups, incubators, and entrepreneurs working on cutting-edge technologies. This interactive session was designed to better understand emerging innovations, explore policy support mechanisms, and address challenges faced by deep-tech startups and MSMEs in scaling their operations.

Further visits included the prominent industrial zones of Tumakuru Industrial Area and the Devanahalli Aerospace SEZ, with a special walkthrough at Dynamatic Technologies, a leading aerospace components manufacturer known for its advanced engineering capabilities. These visits provided insights into India’s evolving industrial prowess, emphasizing opportunities for innovation-driven manufacturing and export growth.

NICDC’s Vision: Next-Generation Industrial Cities

Presenting a compelling vision for the future, Shri Rajat Kumar Saini, CEO & MD, NICDC, showcased the NICDC's strategically designed greenfield industrial nodes. These smart industrial cities offer state-of-the-art infrastructure, seamless digital governance, eco-friendly amenities, and ready-to-invest ecosystems tailored for diverse sectors.

Six key industrial nodes highlighted as significant growth drivers for southern India included:

• Tumakuru (Karnataka): Precision manufacturing and electronics.

• Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): Logistics, food processing, and pharmaceuticals.

• Kopparthy and Orvakal (Andhra Pradesh): Renewable energy, automobiles, and electronics.

• Palakkad (Kerala): Biotechnology, food processing, and clean technologies.

• Zaheerabad (Telangana): Automobile manufacturing, logistics, and pharmaceuticals.

These industrial nodes will propel southern India’s economic diversification, create job opportunities, attract foreign investments, and serve as benchmarks for sustainable urban-industrial development.

Robust Participation from Stakeholders

The Bengaluru roundtable saw extensive participation from MSMEs, innovative startups, corporate leaders, and key policy-makers, providing a comprehensive forum for networking, learning, and strategic collaboration. Participants lauded DPIIT’s proactive approach in convening state governments, industry, academia, and investors to collectively address barriers, improve ease of doing business, and promote inclusive industrial growth.

The interactions at the roundtable clearly demonstrated the collective commitment to transforming India into a global hub of manufacturing excellence, technological innovation, and sustainable industrialization.

Charting India's Industrial Future

The Investors Roundtable Conference represented a critical step towards strengthening India's industrial corridors, particularly within southern states, thereby aligning regional aspirations with the national objective of achieving a developed India by 2047.

Through sustained Centre-State cooperation, robust industrial policy frameworks, targeted infrastructure investments, and strategic stakeholder engagement, India is firmly positioning itself to attract substantial global investments and leverage innovation-led industrialization for long-term economic prosperity.

The DPIIT roundtable concluded with a shared vision, optimism, and clear action-oriented pathways to transform India's southern industrial nodes into vibrant global manufacturing centers, fostering inclusive growth and prosperity for decades to come.