Kozhikode / Kochi: Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS 2025), two investment summit organised by the Kerala government will start on Friday with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating the event, which will be attended by Union and State Ministers, besides foreign representatives.
Minister for Industries P Rajeeve will preside over the inaugural function of the February 21-22 event to be held at Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre here. The summit will have 3,000 delegates.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev said the inaugural session of IKGS 2025 will be addressed by Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry) and Jayant Chaudhary (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship).
“Other speakers who will attend IKGS includes UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touk Al Marri; Bahrain Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro; Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan; prominent industrialist M A Yusuf Ali, who is also Vice Chairman of Norka Roots; CII President Sanjiv Puri and MD of Adani Ports and SEZ Limited (APSEZ) Karan Adani,” said Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev.
State Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan will welcome the gathering, while Principal Secretary (Industries & Commerce) APM Mohammed Hanish will propose a vote of thanks.
Present on the occasion will be NITI Aayog former CEO and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, industry leaders Adeeb Ahmed, Anasuya Ray, Anil Ganju, Dr. Azad Moopen, Gokulam Gopalan, Jean Mane, Josh Folger, Martin Sontag, Matthew Oommen, Mukesh Mehta, M M Murugappan, T S Kalyanaraman, Ravi Pillai, Sasikumar Sreedharan, Sripriya Sreenivasan and Vineeth Varma, besides secretaries of all government departments of Kerala.
Subsequently, Mohammed Hanish will deliver a presentation on ‘Kerala – A Small world of big opportunities’ at the plenary session. Moderated by Amitabh Kant, it will be attended by industry captains: Lulu Financial Holdings MD Adeeb Ahmed, ABInBev Vice President Anasuya Ray, Adani Ports and SEZ Limited CEO Ashwani Gupta; Jio Platforms CEO Mathew Oommen; Murugappa Group Executive Chairman M M Murugappan; Sanjiv Puri and Google Cloud APAC COO Sashikumar Sreedharan.
A clutch of global industry leaders, planners, policymakers, entrepreneurs and prospective investors totaling 3,000 will converge at IKGS 2025. The event will also have country-focused sessions that will explore investment opportunities from six countries, including Germany, Vietnam, Norway, UAE, France and Malaysia. Besides, ambassadors from 24 countries are expected to attend the summit.
IKGS will also host a total of 29 special sessions besides an engaging exhibition of 100 plus enterprises reflecting the focus sectors and the panel sessions at IKGS and will showcase Kerala’s industrial success stories, Public Sector enterprises and an attractive display of handicrafts from Kerala’s traditional sectors.
On the inaugural day, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) CEO Anoop Ambika will moderate the session on ‘Nurturing the Future of Startups and Innovation’ with MedGenome Founder-Chairman and Global CEO Sam Santhosh, JIFFY.ai CEO Babu Sivadasan, Open Financial Technologies Co-Founder Anish Achuthan and Australia Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner John Southwell as the panelists.
Another session on ‘Future of Talent’ will have the presence of Cognizant India Chairman & MD Rajesh Varrier; Dr. K Vasuki, IAS, Secretary, Labour & Skills, Govt. of Kerala; American Mission Hospital CEO George Cherian and IIT Palakkad Director Prof A Seshadri Sekhar. It will be moderated by Prof Santosh Kurup of Digital University of Kerala.
This will be followed by a session on ‘Global Gateway to Medical Excellence, Ayurveda and Wellness Tourism,’ to be attended by Apollo Ayurvaid Hospital Founder Rajeev Vasudevan; Dhatri Ayurveda MD Dr S Sajikumar; Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala CEO K Harikumar; CGH Earth Director Siddharth Dominic and UN Global Strategy Team Advisor Sabine Kapasi.
Another session, on ‘Harnessing Marine Sector for Future Growth’, will be addressed by Amalgam Group of Companies Chairman Abraham John Tharakan; Seafood Exporters Association of India Secretary-General K N Raghavan; Baby Marine Group Managing Partner Alex K. Ninan; Seafood Exporters Association of India National President Pawan Kumar and MPEDA Chairman Dodda Venkata Swamy.
A panel discussion on ‘Powering the Future of Automotive Technology Innovation’ will feature Tata Motors India Design Studio Head Ajay Jain; Ascia Technologies Founder Jijimon Chandran; Mahindra Research Valley V P Shankar Venugopal; Ashok Leyland VP Sachin Goel and Accenture’s Software Defined Vehicles Advanced Technology Center MD Raghavendra Kulkarni.
Speaking on ‘Catalyzing Growth: Port-Led Development as a Bridge to Global Trade’ will be Zimbabwean Minister of Industry and Commerce Rajeshkumar Modi; India Gateway Terminal CEO Praveen Joseph; Ocean Freight South Asia Head Sandeep Nair; Adani Vizhinjam Port CEO Pradeep Jayaraman; Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. CEO Ashwani Gupta and Vizhinjam Port MD Dr Divya S Iyer.
KSIDC Chairman C Balagopal; IBS Group Founder V K Mathews; Meeran Group Chairman Navas Meeran; RP Group Chairman Ravi Pillai, Lulu Financial Holdings CEO & MD Adeeb Ahamed, Invest India Senior Vice President Sidharth Narayanan and ET Group Executive Editor Sruthijith K K will speak on ‘Kerala Towards $1 Trillion Economy’.
Norway-based Eltorque CEO Kai Bogen; Chowgule & Co. ED Arjun Ashok Chowgule; Cochin Shipyard ED Harikrishnan S; Navalt Solar and Electric Boats Founder Sandith Thandasherry; NPOL Director Duvvuri Seshagiri and Indian Coast Guard DIG Nishant S will speak on ‘Navigating the Future: Shipbuilding Potential in India’s Maritime Growth’.
Another panel discussion, on ‘Roots of Prosperity: Nurturing Kerala’s Traditional Sectors for a Brighter Future’ will feature VKC Group MD VKC Razak, ESAF MD Paul Thomas; NC John & Sons MD John Chacko, Harrisons Malayalam Advisor Venkitaraman Anand, Eswaran Brothers Exports Chairman Ganesh Deivanayagam, Synthite Industries Executive Chairman Viju Jacob and Handloom Development Commissioner (Ministry of Textiles) Dr M Beena, IAS.
Tata Power Renewable Microgrid CEO Manoj Gupta; State Additional Chief Secretary K R Jyothilal, IAS; Energy Management Centre Director Dr. R Harikumar; Ciel & Terre India MD Mr Deepak Ushadevi; Australian High Commission Counselor Sanjiva De Silva; REC Limited Director Narayanan Thirupathy and Financial Express Executive Editor K G Narendranath will speak on ‘Empowering Kerala’s Future: Unleashing Opportunities in Clean, Sustainable Energy’.
On the topic of ‘Value-added Plantation Sector Including Rubber’, Kerala Rubber Limited Chairperson Sheela Thomas; Rubber Board Executive Director M Vasanthagesan; Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association DG Rajeev Budhraja; Simmco Foam Executive Director Vinod Simon; Plantation Corporation of Kerala MD James Jacob; Hari Shankar Singhania Elastomer and Tyre Research Institute Director & CEO R Mukhopadyay; UPASI President K Mathew Abraham, and Rubber Board former ED K N Raghavan will share their views.
B2B meetings will also be held with delegations from Germany, Norway and Vietnam on the same day.
The inaugural day will culminate with a specially curated musical presentation of Kerala’s classical and folk dance forms choreographed by Shri Pramod Payyanur.
The second day will begin with a session on ‘Strategic Advantage for Aerospace and Defense Innovation and Collaboration’. It will be addressed by Indian Navy Assistant Chief of Material (Systems) Rear Admiral Sharath Ashirwad; Ananth Technologies Founder Pavuluri Subba Rao; BEL Chairman Manoj Jain; Bharat Dynamics Chairman Madhav Rao; L&T Defense Head of Defence & Security Jasbir Singh Solanki; Elac Germany MD Bernd Szukay and KSPACE CEO Mr G Levin.
IBS Founder VK Mathews, EY Digital Transformation India Leader Richard Antony; Blackstone Private Equity Senior MD Mukesh Mehta; SunTec Founder & CEO Nandakumar; WNS Chief Strategy Officer Srinivas Rao and State IT Secretary Dr Rathan U Kelkar, IAS, will speak on ‘Technology and Kerala Opportunity’.
India Tourism Additional Secretary Suman Billa; Chairman, Board of Trustees Kochi Biennale Foundation and former Chief Secretary V Venu; IHCL Area Director Lalith Viswakumar; Dravidian Trails Managing Director and Secretary, Kerala Travel Mart Society S Swaminathan, ICRT Global Director Manisha Pande; and Tourism Secretary K Biju will speak on ‘Destination for Sustainable Tourism & Responsible Industry’.
Orkla India CEO Sanjay Sharma; India Resident Mission Country Director Mio Oka; Mane Group President Jean Mane; Synthite MD Aju Jacob; Australian High Commission Counselor Kiran Karamil; ITC Divisional Director Ganesh Kumar and CII Kerala Chairman Vinod Manjila, will speak on ‘Revolutionizing Agri-Food: Innovation in Value-Added Produce and Food Processing’.
A panel discussion on ‘Thriving Ecosystem for Banking, Fintech, and Digital Innovation’ will feature SBI Chairman Challa Srinivasalu Setty; Federal Bank MD KVS Manian; Muthoot Digital CEO Chandan Khaitan; PhonePe Founder Rahul Chari; National Stock Exchange Senior Vice President Harish Ahuja; NPCI MD Dilip Asbe; CRED Founder Kunal Shah and NSCDC Vice President Alok Jain.
Bharat Biotech International Executive Chairman Dr Krishna Ella; Agappe Diagnostics MD Thomas John; SCTIMST Director Dr. Sanjay Behari; Avesthagen Founder Dr Villoo Morawala Patell; Next Big Innovation Labs Founder Alok Medikepura Anil and Kerala Medical Technology Consortium Special Officer C Padmakumar will speak on ‘What makes Kerala the perfect Lifesciences & Medical Devices Hub’.
TCS Vice President Dinesh Thampi; Infopark CEO Susanth Kurunthil; Impaqtive President Joseph Kora; Alliance Technology Infrastructure and Information Security Head Vinay Daware; AWS Partner Success Head Bhaskar Joshi and Infosys Senior Vice President Vijayeendra Purohit will speak on ‘Technology Infrastructure for Industrial Growth’.
NEST Group Chairman N Jehangir; Kaynes Technology MD Ramesh Kannan; Keltron MD Vice Admiral (Retd.) Sreekumar Nair; iVP Semiconductor Founder Raja Manikyam; Neo Power CMD A S Wanelkar; South Korea Rexgen Director Jeff Jun; Zetwerk President Josh Foulger and Tata Advanced Systems CTO R Muralidharan will speak on ‘Innovating the Future: Transforming Electronic Systems and Engineering’.
A panel discussion on ‘Shaping Skylines and Transforming Real Estate’ will feature KRERA Chairman P H Kurian; Mindspace REIT CEO Ramesh Nair; SI Property MD S N Raghuchandran Nair; Kochuthomman Associates Principal Architect Kochuthomman Mathew; CKPC Properties MD Chirag Purushotam; Columbia Pacific Communities Director Rajagopal G; NICDC CEO Mr Rajat Kumar Saini, IAS; KPMG India Associate Partner Anand Sarma and Asset Homes Founder V Sunil Kumar.
Retail Association of India Chairman Bijou Kurien; Kalyan Silks Chairman T S Pattabhiraman; Shadowfax Co-Founder Abhishek Bansal; Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail President Jacob John; Myntra Senior Vice President Venu Nair; Sangeetha Mobiles MD Subhash Chandra L and Deccan Herald Opinion Editor Viju Cherian will speak on ‘Retail Revolution: Emerging Opportunities’.
The day will feature discussions and B2B meetings with representatives from France and Malaysia.
Leave a Reply