Large and Medium Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar has said that Hubballi-Dharwad will be developed as a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) cluster for South India, generating an annual turnover of over ₹25,000 crore.
Mr. Shettar received a vision document, ‘Transform Hubbali-Dharwad: Vision 2020-2025’, from Ullas Kamath, Joint Managing Director of Jyothy Labs Ltd. and Chairman of the FMCG Vision Group, and said the cluster was being actively pursued by the government to attract investments and generate large-scale employment in the north Karnataka region. The government had announced the project in the last budget.
It would generate five lakh direct and indirect job opportunities, through the associated service industry such as transport, premium hotels, restaurants,” Mr. Shettar said.
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The Hubli-Dharwad region was identified suiting the development needs, given its connectivity with the consumer markets of Bengaluru, Belagavi, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai. The cluster seeks to change the social demographics of the Hubballi- Dharwad region by developing industrial and allied economic activities, he said.
In tune with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ concept, Hubballi-Dharwad would be the flag-bearer for the next industrial growth in Karnataka. The FMCG cluster development would be proposed in three phases, with each phase comprising investment of ₹2,500 crore from 50 FMCG companies (an average investment of ₹50 crore each). Each phase would generate 50,000 jobs, with 50% jobs reserved for women. Each phase is expected to occupy an area of around 500 acres, Mr. Kamath said.