Karnataka announces measures to boost IT export

The measures aim at increasing level of IT exports by three times to Rs 4 lakh cr

Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Friday announced several measures to give boost to the Information Technology (IT) industry in the state. The measures are aimed at increasing the level of IT exports by three times to Rs 4 lakh crore and more than double the level of employment in the sector to 2 million jobs by 2020. During the year 2013-14, a grant of Rs 194 crore is provided for information technology, biotechnology and science and technology department.

Shettar, who presented the last budget of first BJP government in Karnataka, said a new ESDM (electronics system design and manufacturing) policy will be formulated and the government would spend Rs 100 crore for its implementation during 2013-14.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) will be set up at Dharwad on public private partnership mode by State, Centre and industry at a cost of Rs 128 crore. The chief minister also said an information technology park will be set up in Belgaum, he said. “It is proposed to continue the science related programmes of Vision Group on Science and Technology and allocate Rs 20 crore for this purpose. K-FIST programme will also be continued with a budgetary support of Rs 10 crore,” Shettar said in his budget speech.

A comprehensive Karnataka GIS platform will be prepared for the purpose of GIS Data based governance, sustainable development and citizen empowerment, he said. In continuation of its efforts to implement e-governance in administration, the government has proposed to set up one cyber café per village. The first stage of this scheme, Rs 50 crore is earmarked for establishment of cyber cafes in all 5,627 panchayat headquarters of the state, Shettar said. An e-District project will be launched to automate the backend process of various government departments.

A mobile governance platform will be set up to facilitate delivery of government services on the mobile platform to the residents. A state portal will be launched to provide a single window for the residents and business community to apply for various government services, he added.

Commenting on the budget Kiran Mazumdar -Shaw CMD Biocon said, “I welcome his proposed initiatives in healthcare including the consolidation of Health insurance schemes and the increased outlay to Medical Colleges, Rural Hospitals and Primary Health Centers.”