Sri Lankan cricket icon Muttiah Muralitharan will invest Rs 1,400 crore in phases to establish a beverage and confectionery unit at Badanaguppe in Chamarajanagar district, Industries Minister M B Patil announced on Tuesday.
Muralitharan met with Patil to discuss his business project, expanding his soft drinks business from Sri Lanka to India with a greenfield unit under the brand ‘Muttiah Beverages and Confectioneries’. The Chamarajanagar unit is expected to be operational by January 2025.
Initially planned with an investment of ₹230 crore, the project’s budget has now been revised to ₹1,000 crore and will increase to ₹1,400 crore over the next few years, according to Patil. He also noted that 46 acres of land have already been allocated for the project and that officials have been directed to resolve any minor issues related to the land.
During the meeting, Muttiah reassured Patil that he remains committed to starting a unit for making beverage cans in Dharwad.
Principal Secretary (Industries) S Selvakumar, Industries Commissioner Gunjan Krishna, and other officials attended the meeting. Separately, Patil mentioned plans to meet Union Minister for Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy to discuss the development of the semiconductor industry in Karnataka.