CII setting up centre of excellence for start-ups

Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) would soon set up a centre of excellence for start-ups here with its presence extending to tier-two cities across the state, a top industry representative said on Friday.

"As we are keen to scale up innovation in tier-two and tier-three cities, we are setting up a centre of excellence for start-ups in Bengaluru, with its branches in Dharwad, Hubballi and Kalaburgi (in the state's northern region)," CII past president and Infosys co-founder S. Gopalakrishnan said at the chamber's Innovation Summit here.

"The centre will help promote start-ups across the country by creating business plans, tools and applications. We will also offer training and support required in tier-two and tier-three cities," he said.

Offering the state government's support, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said its effort to promote innovation had helped in setting up a number of start-ups in Bengaluru and other cities across the state.

"Karnataka has been on the forefront of industrial development and our effort to promote innovation has helped in incubating a number of start-ups in the state," he said during his interaction with captains of industry at the 11th edition of the two-day summit.

Principal Secretary, IT and Science and Technology V. Manjula said a warehouse had been set up in Bengaluru for start-ups.

CII Karnataka chairman and Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd vice-chairman Shekhar Viswanathan said there was a major shift in the start-up ecosystem in the country over the last few years, with majority of them focusing on creating solutions to address problems of rural India.