Bengaluru, 19 Feb

Tata Group companies Air India and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) plan to invest Rs 2,300 crore in Karnataka for various projects providing employment to about 1,650 people, it was announced on Monday. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil were among those present at an MoU signing ceremony in this regard here.

Air India is planning to set up a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and "create" Bengaluru as the aviation hub in South India, an official statement said. "The investment for the project is around Rs 1,300 crore. This will ensure direct employment generation of 1,200 people," it said.

According to a National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) study, the hub creation will increase the passengers handled by eight MPPA (Million Passengers Per Annum) thus giving direct and indirect employment opportunity for 25,000 to 26,000 people due to a boost in business activity, support staff and tourism in Karnataka, the statement said.

TASL is planning to set up three projects with total investment of Rs 1,030 crore -- Passenger to Freighter Aircraft Conversion facility (Rs 420 crore), a gun manufacturing facility (Rs 310 crore) and Aerospace and Defence Research and Development in Karnataka (Rs 300 crore). These projects would generate direct employment for 450 people, it said.

TASL's plans to source more than 50 per cent of its 13,000 parts from Karnataka for its gun manufacturing facility, which is estimated to provide employment to 2,000-3,000 people in 300-350 small and medium enterprises, it added.