Mahindra Group plans to invest nearly Rs 40,000 cr in Karnataka: Anand Mahindra
Bengaluru, Feb 11 (PTI): Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Tuesday announced that the group plans to invest nearly Rs 40,000 crore in Karnataka over the next few years.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Invest Karnataka-2025 summit, he said the Mahindra Group has no hesitation in investing in long-term businesses such as renewable energy, aerospace, hospitality, and real estate in Karnataka.
"It gives me great pleasure to state here today that the Mahindra Group is planning close to Rs 40,000 crore of investment in Karnataka in the coming years," Anand Mahindra said.
He noted that Karnataka plays a vital role in the group's renewable energy portfolio. Mahindra Susten intends to invest Rs 35,000 crore to develop over five gigawatts of solar and hybrid projects over the next five years, generating 6,000-8,000 new jobs.
Mahindra Holidays already operates several resorts in Karnataka and is evaluating further expansion into areas like Gokarna and Hampi.
Anand Mahindra said, "We intend to invest an additional Rs 1,000 crore and are in discussions with government officials. I look forward to their support, particularly regarding land aggregation."
He also stated that Mahindra Defence Services and Mahindra Aerospace are exploring strategic expansion opportunities in the state, with investments of several hundred crores planned.
As a key step in the group's mission to electrify India's last-mile industry, Karnataka serves as the hub for Mahindra's ambition to remain the market leader in the electric three-wheeler space, he said. The company has filed 60 patent applications, 54 trademarks, and 16 design registrations from the state.
"Our last-mile mobility business is deeply rooted in Karnataka, with its R&D, product development, and manufacturing units based here," he added.
Mahindra Lifespaces, the group's real estate arm, is currently developing projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore in Bengaluru and plans to invest an additional Rs 6,000 crore in the near future.
Highlighting the Mahindra Group's deep-rooted relationship with Karnataka, Anand Mahindra drew parallels to the lessons he learned at the Kodagu coffee plantation.
"Our involvement with Karnataka is deeply rooted and firmly intertwined. Most of our businesses, including the jewels in our corporate crown—automotive, IT, farm equipment, financial services, and hospitality—have operations here. Our group directly employs over 25,000 people," he said.
He further stated that the Mahindra Group's relationship with Karnataka has flourished over the years, thanks to the nurturing, encouragement, and support provided by the Government of Karnataka. Policies such as the New Industrial Policy and the Global Capability Centres (GCCs) Policy reflect this supportive outlook. "This approach to business gives us confidence in our future here," he added.
Pointing out that Karnataka is deeply intertwined with his childhood memories due to his family's close connection with Kodagu, Anand Mahindra recalled spending a lot of time in the village of Kutta in the late 1960s, when his parents took on the challenge of developing a working coffee plantation from scratch.
"Eventually, although they came from Punjab and later moved to Mumbai, I believe that, at the end of their lives, my parents were happiest in Kutta. So, while I come here today as an investor, first and foremost, I'm just a Kodagu boy coming home," he said.
Noting that he learned the basics of coffee cultivation simply by observing, Anand Mahindra reflected that, in hindsight, those years on the coffee plantation were transformative.
"Watching that coffee grow taught me life lessons that have shaped me both as an adult and as a business leader. I have a lot to thank Karnataka for," he said.
Explaining that he has carried three major lessons from coffee growing into his life, Anand Mahindra stated that successful coffee cultivation requires bushes to be carefully planted and deeply rooted—a principle that also applies to business and personal relationships.
Another key aspect of coffee growing, he said, is that plants need support to grow, as coffee bushes thrive under the shelter of shade-giving trees. Similarly, people and businesses flourish when nurtured and supported by those who can provide guidance and protection.
He further emphasised that growing up on the plantation taught him patience, noting that coffee does not yield returns overnight.
"It teaches you to have faith—faith in the future and belief that hard work will pay off. The returns are worth the long gestation period, whether in life or business," he said.
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NEET-UG: 2 more held, role of several NTA officers under scanner; CBI focussing on source of leak
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has arrested two more persons in connection with the NEET (UG) paper-leak case, with the role of several officers of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other organisations, who had access to the printing press where the papers were printed, coming under the scanner, officials said on Thursday.
The agency has arrested Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune and conducted searches at 14 locations across the country in the last 24 hours, they said.
The CBI is focussing on identifying the source of the leak that has caused massive disappointment to lakhs of aspirants eyeing a seat in undergraduate medical courses, which are allotted after the highly-competitive examination, the officials said.
According to the CBI probe so far, the involvement of public servants in the leak cannot be ruled out.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals from Jaipur -- Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal -- along with Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik.
Khairnar was in touch with Yadav and informed him in April that Mangilal Biwal was ready to pay Rs 10-12 lakh for arranging leaked NEET (UG) 2026 questions for his younger son.
Khairnar allegedly provided 500 to 600 questions from the leaked paper to Yadav, the officials said, adding that the questions could have helped score enough marks to get a seat in a reputed medical college.
Mangilal Biwal allegedly procured the paper from Yadav, who was known to his elder son Vikas Biwal from an NEET coaching in Rajasthan's Sikar. The deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was for Rs 10 lakh, if 150 questions from the question bank matched with those in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper, the officials said.
Mangilal Biwal shared the paper with his son and further distributed it among relatives.
Yadav also told Vikas Biwal to find additional candidates for the questions to recover some of the money that he had spent on getting those, the officials said.
An analysis of digital devices has given the agency incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other digital evidence. The CBI will subject the devices to a forensic examination to get the deleted data, the officials said.
The federal agency has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged NEET (UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.
The NEET (UG) 2026 was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA at centres across the country.
According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for "independent verification and necessary action".
The Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has claimed that a "guess paper" for chemistry, allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination, had approximately 410 questions, including roughly 120 that appeared in the test.
