New Delhi: The Sona Valliappa Group is setting up a first-of-its-kind integrated talent, skilling and innovation hub in Bengaluru. The Sona Centre for Advanced Learning & Entrepreneurship, or SCALE, will be an integrated campus, housing companies and colleges to promote skilling, innovation and entrepreneurship.
On Monday, the conglomerate—which started its journey over a century ago in the textile industry and eventually moved on to technology, logistics, real estate and education—unveiled the logo for SCALE at an event attended by senior industry leaders and policy stakeholders at Sona Towers.
The venture, founded by Thyagu Valliapa, Vice Chairman of Sona Group of Institutions, is aimed at building talent suited for emerging industries and evolving requirements of Global Capability Centres (GCCs). It will bring together advanced learning programmes, industry-focused finishing schools, a Business School, a Techno School, and start-up incubation facilities.
The group plans to invest Rs 150 crore into developing the campus in the industrial corridor in Bidadi, Bengaluru. The proposed campus will feature state-of-the-art hot labs, advanced learning and innovation spaces, and a 2,500-bed hostel. There are also plans to sign over 50 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with organisations across technology, manufacturing, GCCs and allied sectors.
The campus, expected to be completed by May-June of next year, will host its first batch of 120 students from the Sona College of Management in January 2026. The inaugural cohort will undergo intensive industry immersion through engagement with seven-eight companies to give them exposure to organisational operations, manufacturing environments and interactions with CEOs and senior leadership teams.
“SCALE is designed to make India’s talent globally competitive. As GCCs, advanced manufacturing firms and deep-tech enterprises increasingly look to India for innovation-led growth, SCALE will enable students and professionals to gain meaningful industry exposure through hands-on learning in hot labs, leadership access, and a structured Periodic Assessment Test (PAT), where performance can translate into higher pay scales,” Thyagu Valliapa said.