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Bengaluru: Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Tuesday shared insights from his childhood spent in the coffee-growing region of Kodagu, Karnataka, and how those experiences shaped his perspective.
Speaking at the Global Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru, Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, expressed his deep-rooted connection to Kodagu and outlined the group's substantial investment plans for Karnataka.
“The state of Karnataka is intertwined with memories of my childhood because my family has close ties with Kodagu,” Mahindra stated at the event. He recalled growing up on a coffee estate owned by his parents in Kutta, located in the southern part of Kodagu district, during the late 1960s. “In many ways, the Mahindra Group’s association with Karnataka reflects the lessons I absorbed on Kodagu’s coffee plantations,” he said.
Mahindra owns an estate and a bungalow in Kodagu, which is also known as Coorg. The Mahindra Estate and Bungalow is situated near the Nagarahole forest in Kutta.
Back in 2020, Mahindra had reminisced about his childhood in Kodagu after Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) of a tiger bathing in a tub, reportedly filmed near Nagarahole forest, now renamed Rajiv Gandhi National Park. That same year, responding to a documentary video on ‘Wild Karnataka’ on X, Mahindra had written, “In the ’60s, my parents established a coffee plantation in Kodagu, just a few miles from the Nagarhole reserve. I spent most of my school holidays there. The romance and richness of Karnataka’s wildlife run deep in my blood.”
Meanwhile, Mahindra announced that his conglomerate plans to invest a massive ₹40,000 crore in Karnataka over the coming years. At the Global Investors’ Meet, ‘Invest Karnataka 2025’, he revealed that Mahindra Susten, the group’s renewable energy arm, intends to invest ₹35,000 crore in developing over 5GW of solar and hybrid energy projects within the next five years. This initiative is expected to generate between 6,000 and 8,000 new jobs in the state.
Additionally, Mahindra Lifespaces, the group’s real estate division, is currently working on projects worth ₹5,000 crore in Bengaluru, with plans to expand further by developing projects worth another ₹6,000 crore in the near future.
Mahindra also spoke about the group’s hospitality venture, Mahindra Holidays, which already operates multiple resorts in Karnataka. He revealed that they are actively considering expanding into tourism destinations such as Gokarna and Hampi. “We plan to invest another ₹1,000 crore and are in discussions with government officials, seeking support for land aggregation,” he stated.
Beyond real estate and renewable energy, Mahindra Defence Services and Mahindra Aerospace are also eyeing strategic expansion opportunities in Karnataka, with planned investments worth several hundred crores.
Highlighting the state’s significance for the company’s electric mobility aspirations, Mahindra noted that Karnataka serves as a hub for the group's ambitions in the electric three-wheeler (E3W) segment. “With 60 patent applications, 54 trademarks, and 10 design registrations, our last-mile mobility business is deeply rooted here,” he added.
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