BENGALURU/HYDERABAD: A day after eyewear startup Lenskart inked a deal with the Telangana government to set up a manufacturing facility in the state, Karnataka industries minister MB Patil clarified on why the deal didn’t come to the state.
“As custodians of taxpayers’ resources, we are committed to making prudent decisions that maximise long-term benefits for both the state and its people. Incentives by a state government are provided only to reduce the burden on investors and increase the financial viability of the project,” Patil said in a statement to TOI.
Patil added that “certain investors” were asking for incentives amounting to more than 100% of their investment. “State government cannot and should not provide incentives more than the planned investment. These practices raise concerns on the fundamental viability of such projects,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Gurugram-headquartered startup announced its plan to search for 25 acres of land to set up a “mega factory” within 60 km of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport.
Telangana special chief secretary for IT & Industries Jayesh Ranjan told TOI that Lenskart earlier signed up with Karnataka for the facility but “when they saw the policies and approach of the Telangana government, they decided to shift lock, stock, and barrel to Telangana.”
“The government of Karnataka and I, as a minister, have to walk a tightrope. I, as industries minister, have taken steps to create confidence and make several structural reforms to the state industries department. All industrialists are aware that our door is open for any of their concerns or expansion plans,” Patil said in his post on X on Monday.
A spokesperson from Lenskart did not immediately respond to TOI’s request for comments on the minister’s post.
During the signing with the Telangana government on Sunday, co-founder Amit Chaudhary told TOI that Lenskart explored multiple states before finally zeroing in on Telangana.
Chaudhary said that, on reaching out to Ranjan, a WhatsApp group was created. “In four and a half hours we had an online meeting and in another 48 hours we came down to Hyderabad and the land was identified. This was the speed of execution. I really want to highlight this because this is exactly the kind of ease of doing business which the country should represent if you want to become the next superpower,” he added.
The Karnataka government has drawn flak in recent years after failing to secure major manufacturing projects, including those from emerging companies like Ola, Ather Energy, and various semiconductor companies.
In a conversation with TOI last month, Karnataka’s IT minister Priyank Kharge discussed the unbalanced allocation of semiconductor opportunities across Indian states. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi employed coercive measures to secure agreements favouring his native state Gujarat.