HUBBALLI: South India’s first fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) cluster, proposed to be set up in Dharwad, will take shape this week with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai signing MoUs with leading companies from the sector.
The cluster is targeted to generate around five lakh direct and indirect jobs and is likely to give a boost to the economic development of the region. In 2019, then chief minister BS Yediyurappa had announced the setting up of the cluster in Dharwad during the ‘Invest Karnataka-Hubballi’ event.
As Jagadish Shettar, a legislator from the region, was holding the industries portfolio, the proposal got necessary pace and a vision group was formed under Ullas Kamath of Jyothy Labs. The group submitted a report in October 2020 that outlined the imminent need to transform Hubballi-Dharwad into a growth centre for North Karnataka.
After Shettar demitted office, Bommai took a special interest in the cluster and gave in-principle approval in March this year. “There were some issues related to Goods and Services Tax and they have been sorted out now,” sources said.
To develop the cluster, close to Rs 7,500 crore will be invested by a consortium of FMCG companies in three phases. Once operational, the industrial scenario of the region is likely to change with hundreds of small and large industries coming up.
MLA Arvind Bellad, who is taking care of the nitty-gritty of the project along with the Industries Department, told TNIE that the cluster at Mummigatti, near here, is being developed keeping in mind the fundamentals of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ of the Union government. It will generate lakhs of direct and indirect jobs with an expected economic growth of 35 per cent in the region by 2030, he added.
Stating that Bommai will sign MoUs with 10-15 companies on October 28, Bellad said the cluster will evolve on the concept of shared facilities and knowledge to improve productivity by minimising overhead costs. The companies investing in the cluster would start production in the next 18-24 months, he elaborated.