From L’Oréal & Schneider to Mastercard & Tata
On Day 2 of #WEF2026, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy walked into the venue at Davos to fill the silence to drive home a simple, clear and straightforward message: “Telangana is not shopping for random investments. It is building a connected growth engine”, which links IT, AI, life sciences and manufacturing to create lakhs of jobs, capability and global relevance in the long term.
And the meetings that followed proved that they were focused conversations to come up with concrete timelines, numbers, and next steps.
When a global beauty major chooses Hyderabad…
… and makes it about technology!
The standout headline of the day came from L’Oréal, which announced its world’s first Beauty-Tech Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Hyderabad. Set to be inaugurated in November 2026, this GCC is planned as a global hub for innovation, AI, data, analytics, technology, and supply chain, with solutions built in Hyderabad expected to support L’Oréal operations worldwide.
The company’s CEO Nicolas Hieronimus shared the decision after meeting Revanth Reddy and the Telangana delegation. The scale is huge as the project is expected to create around 2,000 jobs, and it also signals something bigger. Hyderabad’s GCC story now goes beyond the familiar categories, and steps into new realms and industries like beauty-tech.
IT & Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu pitched Hyderabad’s GCC maturity with examples of global companies already present, while Special Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar invited L’Oréal to explore manufacturing investments as well, a line the company responded to positively.
Fintech, cyber security, AI: The growth triangle gets stronger
If Hyderabad is becoming a preferred global desk for capability centres, Day 2 at Davos showed why.
Mastercard officially opened its Hyderabad office, strengthening Telangana’s footprint in fintech and cyber security. The company also deepened its expansion of the AI Garage, reinforcing the idea that global companies are doing more than just hiring talent here. They are, in fact, building core innovation capabilities too.
Meanwhile, Cisco revisited its engagement with Telangana, underlining the State’s talent advantage and the strength of skilling institutions like TASK and Young India Skills University (YISU). Cisco’s leadership described the approach as “forward-thinking and aggressive”, and discussions included scaling digital skills across AI, cyber security, and emerging technologies.
Manufacturing gets its moment: Schneider Electric’s Rs. 623 crore expansion
Beyond tech, Telangana’s message on plans for the industrial sector was spot on: manufacturing expansion matters, and sustainability can’t be an afterthought.
At Davos, Schneider Electric India announced an investment of Rs. 623 crore to expand its facilities at Gagillapur and Shamshabad. The expansion is set to boost manufacturing of critical electrical safety products such as ACB, MCCB, contactors and push buttons.
The discussions also opened up collaboration on the next phase of energy infrastructure – be it energy transition and storage, grid modernisation, energy efficiency, or digital power management – especially for Telangana’s industrial parks and future urban projects.
Revanth Reddy welcomed the investment secured through the efforts of Minister Sridhar Babu, and reiterated that Telangana’s development roadmap is tied to its Net-Zero target by 2047.
The partnership also touched areas like smart manufacturing, automation, energy management, EV-linked components, and Schneider’s skilling ecosystem.
Sargad’s MoU: Aviation MRO, defence ecosystem & regional strategy
One of the most strategically interesting deals of Day 2 came through an MoU with Sargad, a US-based operator-led industrial and investment platform. The company committed to an indicative investment of up to Rs. 1,000 crore over the next three to five years.
Sargad expressed interest in establishing an aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Telangana, along with a phased investment and ecosystem development plan linked to aerospace, defence, automotive and advanced manufacturing.
The Chief Minister used the meeting to outline Telangana’s regional economic framework showcasing a structured map of where different growth models belong:
- CURE (Core Urban Region Economy): Services-driven, Net-Zero approach
- PURE (Peri-Urban Region Economy): Manufacturing-focused
- RARE (Rural Agri Region Economy): Agriculture and green economy
He also invited Sargad to explore setting up the MRO at Warangal or Adilabad, where Telangana is developing two new airports, and promised the best possible incentives to encourage balanced industrialisation beyond Hyderabad.
Blaize MoU: AI hardware meets Hyderabad engineering
The Telangana delegation also entered an MoU with Blaize, a California-based firm specialising in energy-efficient AI hardware and full-stack software for data-centre AI computing.
Blaize already runs an R&D and engineering centre in Hyderabad, and the discussions focused on scaling this facility and strengthening advanced AI engineering capabilities. The conversation also looked at use cases such as AI pilots in healthcare diagnostics, manufacturing automation and energy efficiency.
Sridhar Babu linked this to the State’s larger plan through the launch of the Telangana AI Innovation Hub (TAIH), which is set to become a strategic centre for AI-led investments, research and innovation.
A clean energy pitch: Rs. 6,000 crore EOI for SMR project
In one of the more ambitious proposals of the day, NUkler Products – a joint venture backed by Slovakia-based IQ Capital and India-based Green House Enviro – submitted an Expression of Interest for a Small Modular Reactor (SMR)-based clean energy project.
The proposal includes up to 300 MW installed capacity and an estimated investment of EUR 600 million (around Rs. 6,000 crore). The meeting included senior representatives from both promoter groups, along with the Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic to Liechtenstein, JUDr. Matúš Gémeš, reflecting the international weight behind the proposal.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy welcomed the interest and underlined sustainability as a core pillar of Telangana’s policy direction, aligned with Net-Zero 2047. Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy also joined the discussions.
Life Sciences Policy 2026-30: Big framework behind Davos conversations
Day 2 wasn’t only about meetings. Telangana also used Davos to unveil the Next-Gen Life Sciences Policy 2026-30, setting the stage for its ambition of placing the State among the top three life sciences clusters in the world by 2030.
The policy targets $25 billion in investments and 5 lakh new jobs, with focus areas spanning vaccines, biologics, advanced biomanufacturing, precision medicine, digital health, diagnostics, clinical research and global innovation centres.
It is backed by infrastructure plans like Genome Valley expansion, Medical Devices Park, Green Pharma City, 10 Pharma Villages, and sustainability-driven manufacturing practices.
Breakfast with Tata: Vision, Musi, sports & future infrastructure
At the TCS Pavilion, Revanth Reddy hosted a breakfast meeting with Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, where the discussion revolved around building long-term collaborations tied to Vision 2047.
Key points included Telangana’s partnership with Tata Technologies to transform 65 ITIs into Advanced Technology Centres (ATCs), upgrades to polytechnic colleges, and skilling through Young India Skills University.
The meeting also explored sports infrastructure (including a vision linked to the 2036 Olympics), the Musi Riverfront transformation as an economic corridor, hospitality projects, and even the proposal to name the Bharat Future City-ORR-RRR expressway as Ratan Tata Road.
Switzerland to Hyderabad: The ‘Swiss Mall’ idea & a cultural bridge
In another high-level engagement, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy met Christelle Luisier Brodard, Chief Minister of the Council of Vaud, Switzerland. The discussion explored partnerships under the India-Switzerland trade framework, including culture, education, hospitality training, retail, life sciences, and sports.
The most interesting idea on the table was a proposal to create a world-first “Swiss Mall” in Hyderabad, which the Swiss delegation received positively. They also expressed interest in Telangana’s women empowerment model through self-help groups, and confirmed that a Swiss team would visit Hyderabad soon to explore collaborations.
To sum up, Telangana’s Day 2 at Davos was all about the State showing clarity, vision, and direction.
From a beauty-tech GCC to AI hardware, from Schneider’s manufacturing expansion to clean energy proposals, from skilling partnerships to life sciences policy, Telangana made its case the way global investors prefer it, not with hype but with structure, intent, and follow-through.