Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: Sri Lankan cricket icon Muttiah Muralitharan will invest Rs 1,400 crore in phases to set up a beverage and confectionery unit at Badanaguppe in Chamarajanagar district, Industries Minister M B Patil said on Tuesday.
Muralitharan met Patil and held talks about his business project.
The former cricketer, who runs a soft drinks business in Sri Lanka, is expanding with a greenfield unit in Chamarajanagar district under the brand ‘Muttiah Beverages and Confectioneries’. The Chamarajanagar unit is likely to become operational by January 2025.
According to Patil, the project was initially planned with an investment of ₹
Rs 230 crore. The figure has now been revised to a total of Rs 1,000 crore. It will be further increased to Rs 1,400 crore in a few years, the minister said.
Patil also said that 46 acres of land has already been allocated for the project. He added that officials have been directed to resolve minor issues related to the allocated land.
During the talks, Muttiah told Patil that he will not back out of his plans to start a unit to make beverage cans at Dharwad.
Principal Secretary (Industries) S Selvakumar, Industries Commissioner Gunjan Krishna and other officials were present at the meeting.
Separately, Patil told reporters that he plans to meet Union Minister for Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy to discuss the development of the semiconductor industry in Karnataka.