As IT & ITeS sectors mature, Karnataka showcases disruptive ecosystem at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

As IT & ITeS matures as a sector in Karnataka, the state government is planning to change its perception and looks at embracing disruptive technologies to reposition itself.

Speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ session on ‘Fuelling growth through disruptive innovations: Start-up ecosystem in Karnataka’, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology and Tourism said “People, corporates and government have always associated ‘BengaluruITE.biz’ with IT & ITeS. Now we needed to change that perception because IT & ITES have matured as a sector in Karnataka and we need to do something disruptive to reposition ourselves.”

“In order to redefine BengaluruITE.biz, theme ‘Define the Next’ was chosen after great deliberation as the focus of the state going forward to be creative and disruptive and emerging technologies like Internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Aerospace, DefTronics, Cyber Security, Big Data Analytics, machine learning among various other verticals are being explored. We have taken a call to ensure we emerge as the innovation leaders right from agriculture to aerospace,” he added.

As these disruptive innovations are happening very rapidly in India and today we are considered as one of the best ecosystems in the world for innovations that has the potential to catapult the economy, he further added.

Karnataka is home to over 4,900 start-ups as per global start-ups eco-system ranking report of 2015. “Under our multisector policy we are aiming at stimulating growth of 20,000 tech start-ups, including 6,000 product start-ups by 2020. We have established one of the best start-up eco-systems in the country and are confident of achieving the objectives set forth in the multisector start-up policy,” explained Kharge.

India ranked as the top innovation destination in Asia and second in the world for new innovation centres, Bengaluru has been leading the way in innovation for India and has emerged as the fifth most preferred location for multinationals in the world to house their innovation centres overtaking technology hubs like Tokyo, Shanghai and Chicago.

“So a lot people ask how Karnataka Government has been evolving itself to stay on top as an innovation hub. Let me tell you what we did recently to stay relevant while holding BengaluruITE.biz we looked at disruptive innovations in the technology space,” said Kharge.

“Now it has become a major driver of Indian growth story and Karnataka has been in the forefront in propelling new initiatives and in supporting entrepreneurs with disruptive innovations. The state has always endeavoured to craft a policy framework that gives impetus to economic growth and in order to achieve that we have drafted India’s first Multisector Startup Policy to act as a catalyst, facilitating the innovators, investors and the industry to thrive and prosper,” he added.

The state government has not only encouraged emerging technologies but is also investing in them for the growth of entrepreneurship and start-ups. “The government has become an angel investor to fund prominent ideas through idea2POC initiative of our multi-sector startup policy. We have already received over 200 ideas requesting for funding in the sectors of IT, electronics, agriculture, tourism amongst other verticals. We are aiming at funding start-ups in multiple sectors in the form of grant or equity and we intend to mobilize about Rs 400 crore for this under the ‘Innovate Karnataka’ initiative. We have also launched Biotech Venture Fund of Rs 50 crore and Animation and Gaming Venture Fund of Rs 20 crore for the animation, visual effects and gaming sector,” he said.

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