Karnataka's New IT Policy: Boosting AI and Tech Innovation Beyond Bengaluru

Karnataka Proposes Budget for Centre of Applied AI in New IT Policy | AIM

The budget proposes an investment of ₹50 crore over the next five years for the centre. Karnataka's new IT policy may be finalised in July, state IT minister Priyank Kharge told the Economic Times (ET). The budget proposes a centre for applied AI for tech solutions with an investment of ₹50 crore over the next five years. A ₹300 crore fund of funds has been set up to support startups, along with a ₹100 crore fund dedicated to deep tech development. The new policy will replace the 2020-2025 policy, which primarily focused on IT-enabled services and is set to expire this year. "The IT policy will focus on creating new economic accelerators beyond Bengaluru. Infrastructure is a problem with any growing city, and that was quite naturally raised by stakeholders," the minister said. The government is also expanding its startup ecosystem beyond Bengaluru, to boost growth in cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Kalaburagi. In the last consultation, the state IT secretary, Ekroop Caur, along with Nasscom and many others, discussed strategies to extend the IT infrastructure into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Nasscom also recommended establishing a fund-of-funds structure specifically for deep-tech, with the state government serving as the anchor investor. In line with global standards, they proposed an investment ticket size of ₹50-₹200 crore to achieve effective scaling. "The policy is currently a draft. The old policy will lapse this year. We're hopeful that the drafting of the new policy will happen before the CEO meet in July, which we traditionally hold once a year. It is going through the IT Vision Group and larger consultations. Once it is finished at the secretariat level, it will come to me," Kharge added. As reported by ET, the integration of technology into multiple sectors has led the state to implement new policies concerning cybersecurity, engineering, research and development, global capability centres, and data centres. According to the current policy, the government stated that organisations across various sectors must use IT and emerging technologies, such as blockchain, AI, big data, IoT, data enablement tools, and the upcoming 5G technology.

Karnataka's new IT policy to be finalised around July: Priyank Kharge

The last consultation on the matter was held among IT secretary Ekroop Caur, industry body Nasscom and others on May 23. They discussed strategies to reskill Karnataka's digital workforce, emphasised extending IT infrastructure beyond Bengaluru into tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and reviewed regulatory reforms to enhance ease of doing business in the state.Karnataka's new information technology policy may be finalised around July, state IT minister Priyank Kharge told ET. It will succeed the 2020-2025 policy, which focused on IT-enabled services and is due to expire this year. The State IT Vision Group comprising IT companies, chambers of commerce and think tanks is working on the new policy, which, once completed at the secretariat level, will reach the ministerial level. "The policy is currently a draft. The old policy will lapse this year. We're hopeful that the drafting of the new policy will happen before the CEO meet in July that we traditionally hold once a year. It is going through the IT Vision Group and larger consultations. Once it is finished at the secretariat level, it will come to me," Kharge told ET. The last consultation on the matter was held among IT secretary Ekroop Caur, industry body Nasscom and others on May 23. They discussed strategies to reskill Karnataka's digital workforce, emphasised extending IT infrastructure beyond Bengaluru into tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and reviewed regulatory reforms to enhance ease of doing business in the state. "The IT policy will focus on creating new economic accelerators beyond Bengaluru. Infrastructure is a problem with any growing city and that was quite naturally raised by stakeholders," the minister said. He further said, "The IT policy that had come out then (2020-2025) was with respect to IT-enabled services. Now it is going to be a light-house policy that leads to other policies. Once the feedback comes in, the budgetary outlay will be allocated. There are IT companies and think tanks that we consult." Since technology has seeped into various sectors, the state has new policies on cybersecurity, engineering and research and development, global capability centres and data centres. The budget proposed setting up a Centre for Applied AI for Tech Solutions with an investment of Rs 50 crore over five years. A Rs 300 crore Fund-of-Funds has been established to support startups, along with a Rs 100 crore corpus for deep tech development. The government is also expanding its startup ecosystem beyond Bengaluru, encouraging growth in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad and Kalaburagi. Nasscom, which was part of the consultation, said in a blog that the main points of discussion were identifying policy interventions to unlock emerging technologies' potential, strategies to reskill and future-proof Karnataka's digital workforce, extending IT infrastructure beyond Bengaluru and reviewing regulatory reforms to enhance ease of doing business in the state. There was also a discussion at this meeting on the need for more structured and effective awareness of state's initiatives including the policy measures so that all sections of the IT industry, particularly SMEs can fully leverage the policies.