State minister offers land in Bengaluru for Lenskart, netizens suggest north Karnataka

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

MB Patil has offered land to eyewear retail chain Lenskart in Bengaluru, responding to a post by its founder Peyush Bansal on social media platform X. Patil told Bansal that Karnataka was the place to be for the eyewear chain to set up its manufacturing unit.

The minister’s response came after Bansal sought to know through his post if a plot of 25 acres was available near the Kempe Gowda international airport in Bengaluru for his company to build its next mega factory.

He sought mail from potential sellers. «The Industries Department is here to support you, and facilitate all your needs,» the minister replied within minutes.

Lenskart, backed by SoftBank Vision Fund and other institutional investors, is based in Gurugram and taps customers through both online and offline stores.

Sections of netizens suggested to the minister and Lenskart co-founder to explore sites outside of Bengaluru as the city was over-crowded. While some suggested the North Karnataka region, one of them specifically pointing to Bagalkot or Bijapur given their proximity to Maharashtra and Telangana, another recommended Chamarajanagar industrial area as it was closer to Mysuru airport. Land prices are cheap at all these places and skilled manpower is available, they said.