Bengaluru : 105-year old Sona Valliappa Group, South India’s leading name in education and business, today unveiled the logo for Sona Centre for Advanced Learning & Entrepreneurship (SCALE). It will be a first-of-its-kind integrated campus housing companies and colleges to promote skilling, innovation, and entrepreneurship. SCALE will develop future-ready talent for emerging industries, and evolving requirements of Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
Mr Thyagu Valliappa, Founder of SCALE, and a 4th generation entrepreneur, made the announcement at Sona Towers which hosted India’s first GCC by Texas Instruments in the 1980s. Senior industry leaders and policy stakeholders were also present during the event.
Thyagu Valliappa, Founder of SCALE said, “SCALE is designed to make India’s talent globally competitive. As Global Capability Centres (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. We will offer a wide range of courses supported by over 50 MoUs and 15+ Centres of Excellence, in collaboration with world-renowned brands, industry partners and government stakeholders. Through our tie-up with the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), we expect to work with the Government of Karnataka to upskill over 3,000 young engineers across the state. Training will be delivered by highly experienced faculty and industry professionals, focusing on skills that are in demand and expected to significantly improve employability.”
SCALE will operate at the intersection of education, technology and business, bringing together advanced learning programmes, industry-focused finishing schools, a Business School, a Techno School, and startup incubation facilities within a single campus. Designed on the philosophy of “for the industry, by the industry and to the industry,” the initiative reflects the Sona Valliappa Group’s commitment to creating clear and sustainable pathways from education to employment and entrepreneurship.
Over the last 68 years, the Sona Valliappa Group has created more than 100,000 jobs across multiple verticals and has built long-standing associations with leading organisations such as Capgemini, JSW, Dassault Systèmes, TCS, and several others. Its strong focus on Industry 4.0, particularly in design engineering and 3D modelling in partnership with Dassault Systèmes, has alone contributed to the creation of over 150 millionaires.
Sona Valliappa Group will invest Rs 150 crore for developing the campus in Bidadi, Bengaluru, located just an hour away from Mysore making it the first centre where both the cities can benefit from.
The area is already an important industrial corridor. The upcoming facility will feature state-of-the-art hot labs, advanced learning and innovation spaces, and a 2,500-bed hostel, creating a fully immersive environment for students and professionals.
SCALE will also build a strong partnership ecosystem as it plans to sign over 50 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with organisations across technology, manufacturing, GCCs and allied sectors. These collaborations will support experiential learning, live industry projects, applied research and mentorship from senior industry leaders.
The first batch of 120 students will be trained from January 2026. The campus is expected to be ready by May-June 2026. The inaugural cohort will be from Sona College of Management, who will undergo intensive industry immersion through engagement with 7-8 companies to give them exposure to organisational operations, manufacturing environments and interactions with CEOs and senior leadership teams.
The launch of SCALE marks a significant milestone in the Sona Valliappa Group’s century-old journey from textiles to technology, reinforcing its legacy of pioneering industry-linked education and building future-ready learning ecosystems.
