Karnataka risks losing auto, EV testing centres as Mandya politics stalls project

Bengaluru: Karnataka runs the risk of losing cutting-edge testing centres for automobile and electric vehicles the union government has proposed with regional politics taking centrestage and political heavyweights engaged in an everyday war of words.

HD Kumaraswamy, union heavy industries minister, has been pushing for construction and infrastructure equipment (CIE) and EV testing centres in Mandya district to be built by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

The twin facilities, experts said, have the potential to create an automobile and EV ecosystem in a region otherwise known for sugarcane cultivation and dairy farming. The central government’s investments combined with adequate supply of land can create an auto hub on the lines of Pune, they said. Similar testing and research infrastructure have helped Haryana and Tamil Nadu emerge strong in automobile manufacturing.


The ARAI, an automotive R&D organisation working in the areas of vehicle engineering, safety, emissions and technology development, plays a crucial role in setting industry standards while driving innovation in mobility solutions. Other BJP-ruled states have been serious contenders for the ARAI centres, but Kumaraswamy has been able to sway it in his home’s state’s favour.

What is creating impediments to ARAI’s proposed investments is the political dynamics in Mandya, the district Kumaraswamy represents in the Lok Sabha. The union minister is also the president of JDS, an NDA constituent party. Sections of Congress leaders fear if the testing lab project shapes up, Kumaraswamy will walk away with enormous goodwill among locals that may only expand his regional party’s footprint. The ruling Congress, on the other hand, does not have a counter development strategy of similar influence for the district.

The 66-year-old JDS leader is also a prominent Vokkaliga leader, his community being the state’s second largest as well as politically influential in the Old Mysuru region comprising about a dozen districts. His area of clout overlaps with that of chief minister DK Shivakumar and Mandya district minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, both coming from the same community and seeking to expand their profile across the region and beyond. That is also the root cause for the political animosity with each group trying to undercut the other.

Caught in the political swirl is industries minister MB Patil, who recently visited the US, Europe and Southeast Asian countries wooing investors. Here is an investment coming from the union government, but the minister has been unable to push it beyond a point owing to local political complications. Kumaraswamy, meanwhile, is not willing to locate the centres anywhere outside of his constituency.