Chevron to pitch Rs 8,300 crore in R&D hub in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Global oil and gas behemoth Chevron Corporation is set to invest Rs 8,300 crore in setting up a research and development (R&D) hub in Bengaluru, the Karnataka industries minister M B Patil announced in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday. 

Called the 'Engineering & Innovation Excellence Center (ENGINE)’, the unit is expected to generate 600 engineering jobs. This would be Chevron’s largest tech centre outside the US.

The unit coming up at Bellandur will focus on advancing technology solutions for existing global operations, alongside innovating for the future of lower carbon energy. On the company’s website, the incoming country head for India, Akshay Sahni, declared that it is “India’s time” and termed the investment being made in Bengaluru as transformational. 

“Bengaluru has massive scientific talent, and I am thrilled that we will be building a team here which will be at the very nexus of solving today’s energy challenges and delivering tomorrow’s lower carbon energy solutions,” he also noted.

This announcement comes within a week of Taiwan-based Foxconn announcing investments of Rs 22,000 crore in Karnataka. The iPhone manufacturer intends to set up a massive manufacturing plant near DoddaBallapur, creating 40,000 jobs. It has also evinced interest in exploring opportunities in electric vehicle component manufacturing.

Additionally, Bestec Group, a power electronics company, also expressed interest in establishing a manufacturing unit with an investment of Rs 200 crore in Karnataka, the industries minister M.B Patil announced on Tuesday.

Karnataka is expected to host some 330 Global Capability Centres of top companies by 2030, which are in turn expected to create one million jobs, stated a report released by the state government.

“Bengaluru holds a commanding 39 per cent of the larger GCC market share in India, a testament to its position as the market leader and largest hub for GCC operations,” IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge said earlier in July.

According to a PwC report, by 2028, India is poised to have 2,100 GCCs, with the market size of the centres touching $90 billion.