The Karnataka government, on Thursday, launched the 'Beyond Bengaluru' initiative, focusing on building innovation and technology ecosystem beyond the state capital.
The initiative is part of the upcoming three-day 'Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020' that begins on November 19, and is aimed at enhancing the growth of IT /ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services), business processing outsourcing (BPO), electronic system design manufacturing (ESDM), and telecom sector in the cities of Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad and Shivamogga.
Karnataka IT-BT Minister Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan, who launched the initiative, said, "Work-from-home and work-from-anywhere has become the new normal, and the pandemic has triggered reverse migration. The government hopes to effectively tap into the talent pool across the state. Soon, four more cities will be developed to create an ecosystem that facilitates technology developmen."
He pointed out that at present, cities outside Bengaluru contributed only about five per cent of the total revenue from the industry and there was a need to scale it up to realise the state's target of becoming a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2025.
“A task force comprising the industry, academia and other stakeholders will prepare a white paper to push forward the 'Beyond Bengaluru' initiative. The white paper would cover potential action points for promoting cities beyond Bengaluru. It will propose incentives and initiatives that will boost technology development," said the minister.
He stated that the government had resolved the connectivity issues in tier 2 and tier 3 cities by working with telecom companies, set up New Age Innovation Network (NAIN)—a network of incubation centres in 30 engineering colleges in cities—built common instrumentation facilities (CIFs) and technology business incubators in many academic institutions to encourage innovation and R&D outside Bengaluru.
Some of the incentives and offerings mooted under the initiative are financial support for IT hubs and clusters, co-working spaces/ plug and play infrastructure, lease/ rental reimbursement, exemption on stamp duty of 75 per cent in Mysuru, Hubballi, Dharwad and Mangaluru, industrial power tariff instead of commercial, reimbursement of quality certification cost, marketing cost, PF/ESI and the patents cost.
