New Drones & EV Cluster Launched in Belagavi – First day itself brought LOIs worth Rs 400 Cr investments

To promote Belagavi as the go-to industrial cluster & position as a global hub for drones and electric vehicles. *Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) launched the DRoEV 2023* along with industry partners at Mayur Belgaum Presidency Club, Belagavi here today. This is to accelerate the growth in the emerging technology cluster and expand the industrial ecosystem beyond the capital city of Bengaluru.

First aerospace manufacturing SEZ in Belagavi generating close to Rs 400 Cr last 12 months, the first state to roll out EV policy and now the first cluster to come up with a Drone & EV cluster & to support the growth of this ecosystem.

DRoEV aims to attract global investors in the sector to engage with local industries, partners, and be part of the global supply chain. The cluster is also an excellent opportunity to showcase local talents, intellectual property, products, and innovations while creating a conducive manufacturing environment for the Drones and Electric Vehicle industry.

Highlighting the unique competitive advantage of the cluster, *Mr. B.V. Naidu, Chairman, KDEM* said “We want to enable a conducive manufacturing ecosystem and invite global investors to interact with local industries, partners, and be part of the global supply chain. Belagavi is a great location, and this cluster will help build develop an ecosystem for the sector with its proximity to industry hubs, R&D centres, educational institutions, and global networks for the nation. 30,00 students (engineers and ITI) passing out annually – local talent is another key factor that will drive new age industries like Drones & EV in the coming years.”

*Dr. E. V. Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Dept of Electronics, IT BT S&T, Government of Karnataka*, iterated the Belagavi’s growing economic stature and ongoing development plans, “Emerging clusters outside Bengaluru, like Hubli-Dharwad- Belagavi, are exerting more significant influence; The Belagavi region, alongside the region’s high talent pool, entrepreneurship, and skilled labour, has been essential to attracting engineering companies. Additionally, the government has undertaken efforts to accelerate the cluster’s growth in other areas. As part of marquee ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ projects, the department of Electronics IT BT S&T with the support of KDEM is now positioning Belagavi region as Drone & EV cluster. We are excited to see the interest from the industry for this. These initiatives combined with industry support will contribute towards the digitization of our nation and harness the limitless potential of the state’s digital economy in order to transform the lives of the people.”

Speaking on the occasion, *Mr. 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. KDEM is enabling this growth by creating a new cluster and hosting DRoEV 2023 in the already existing industrial clusters in Belagavi will benefit from the multiplier effect of this new venture. Bringing all stakeholders together and showcasing the power of the cluster is one of the key objectives of todays launch event.” he added.

The one-day power-packed event brought together industry leaders, policymakers, the R&D community, and startups – with over 200 participants. The stakeholders and sectoral experts shared their stories and saw great potential in the launch of DroEV cluster in Belagavi.

Many cluster and sector-specific sessions on – Vision Belagavi + Shining stars, Drones – A Birds Eye View, Driving the Drone Economy, Testing and Certification on EV and Drone, MoU Partners – Requisites, Panel Discussions on AeroVision – Institutes, Innovation and Industry, and Localizing EV Supply Chain- Challenges and Opportunities and a fire chat were organized.

The event was attended by EV OEMs, EV component manufacturers, battery manufacturers, Charging Equipment & Infrastructure providers, Automobile component manufacturers, UAV & eVTOL OEMs, UAV component manufacturers, UAV service providers, Aerospace component manufacturers, RPTOs & certified drone pilots.

About Karnataka Digital Economy Mission : Karnataka Digital Economy Mission is a Section 8 organization designed to function as the knowledge bridge between the Government of Karnataka and industry with a view of accelerating the growth and investments of the IT, BT, and S&T sectors in Karnataka. The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission promises to harness the unlimited potential of the digital economy of Karnataka to transform the lives of the people in the state. The IT ecosystem not only uplifts the lives of professionals in the industry but also powers millions of other ancillary jobs across other industries.

List of LOI’s for DroEV Cluster : DroEV 2023 conclave @ Belagavi SL NO LoI company PoC A brief note 1. Rivot Motors Ajit Patil Manufacturing plant to produce about 1,00,000 units of our two wheeler at the new EV & Drone cluster at Belagavi resulting into a direct employment of about 500 Personal and indirect employment of about 1000 personal, we are looking of an investment of about 100Cr spread across 2-3 years 2. Vikas Composites Arvind Kapadia Investment of 4 crores with employment of 60 people 3. Accu Square Design and Toolings Mahanand Uppar Set up a Rapid Prototyping Facility to support EV & Drone cluster with an investment of 4 cr with employment of 25 people 4. Tonchi Polymers Prakash Mugali Develop a Rubber and Thermoplastic Products facility Planned investment in 3 to 4 years: 5 Crore Planned employment in 3 to 4 years: 45 people 5. Hexlattice Materials Pvt Ltd Prakash Mugali Develop Graphene based Materials Planned investment in 3 to 4 years: 12 Crore Planned employment in 3 to 4 years: 60 people 6. Virginia Tech India Dr. MK Padmanabhan Collaborate in various activities s involving manufacture/skilling/ Technical advisory and consultancy planned in the new EV & Drone cluster at Belagavi 7. JMC Mr. Javaji M we wish to collaborate in the new EV & Drone cluster at Belagavi. This should help large number of engineers in Drone manufacturing, operations, and services over a period of time. 8. Vega Aviation Suhas Chandak Expected Investment: 60 cr Employment generation: 1200 Benefits in defence, security & agriculture 9. Servocontrols Aerospace Deepak Dhadoti We are planning to invest around Rs. 5 Crores in plant and machineries which will scale up the turnover and benefit to generate employment in region of Hattaragi village, around 10b employees. 10. EMileage Basavareddy 11. Meladath Auto Components Private Limited Rakesh Investment of 10 cr with a potential to create 500 jobs 12. Focus Engineering Dhananjay M CoE in Belagavi cluster. Will be benefiting 5000 people through creating jobs 13. KLS GIT Raj Belgaumkar Investment of 2 cr with a potential of benefitting 500 people through creating jobs 14. DFI Smit Shah 15. KLE Tech Shivyogi Turmari Investment of 6 crores on EV Innovation Centre (EVIC) – The state-of-the-art platform for communicating knowledge to engineering students about Electric Vehicles (EV) and to facilitate infrastructure to conduct research in emerging areas/technologies of EVs and finally 16. Orxa Energies Ranjitha Ravi

List of LOI’s for DroEV Cluster : DroEV 2023 conclave at Belagavi