A day after announcing investments of Rs 1,000 crore in Telangana, textile tycoon Sabu Jacob of Kerala-based Kitex Group has received a fresh pitch from Rajeev Chandrasekhar, newly appointed Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, to invest in the latter's adopted state of Karnataka.
Jacob had withdrawn planned investments of Rs 3,500 crore in Kerala alleging ‘humiliating experience’ at the hands of State government agencies which conducted a series of ‘spree of revenge inspections’ on his company. He had announced his decision to pull back from his project only last week.
In a tweet on Saturday, the Union Minister offered all support to an industry that provides employment to thousands of Malayalees in Kerala. 'Have also offered opportunity of investments in Karnataka with full support of CM’ it said, tagging Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Home Minister Amit Shah; BJP National President JP Nadda; and Organisational Secretary BL Santhosh.
A three-time Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka and a successful entrepreneur himself, Chandrasekhar was born into a Keralite family but grew up mostly outside. After completing his engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, he took his Masters from the Illinois Institute of Technology in the US.
Chandrasekhar belongs to a class of Indian techies that launched their career from the Silicon Valley with Intel. Part of the team that developed Pentium chips, his stint in the US however did not last long.
Back home in 1991, he founded BPL Mobile which he grew as India’s largest cellular network. He chose to exit the cellular sector in 2005 after selling his stake in BPL to the Essar Group.
In 2005, he founded Jupiter Capital, an investment and financial services firm based in Bengaluru, of which he continues to be the Chairman. His firm has investments and managed assets across sectors ranging from technology to transportation, logistical services to hospitality and entertainment.