Karnataka unveils new policies to boost ICT, hardware

The Karnataka government

recently came out with a revised ICT (version 2.0) and an electronics

hardware policy to attract investors in the knowledge sector and

promote tier-1 and -2 cities across the state as new investment

destinations.

Under the revised ICT

policy, the state government will set up a research hub in Bengaluru

with a prototype-cum-testing lab, with 50% state funding for setting

up the required infrastructure.

“We will ensure that

Bengaluru and the state will remain a premier destination for global

investments in the knowledge sector, especially in ICT, R&D and

electronics hardware,” said Murugesh R Nirani, Minister for Large

and Medium Industries, while releasing the twin policy documents.

The twin polices outline

the government's measures to create an ecosystem for the

consolidation and expansion of the software services industry in the

state and fiscal incentives, including tax rebates, subsidies, stamp

duty exemptions and single-window clearances for setting up

manufacturing facilities for electronics products and components.

“To replicate the

success story of our software sector in the hardware sector, we will

set up 4 electronics hardware manufacturing hubs across the state on

the outskirts of Bangalore, Mysore-Nanjangud, Hassan-Shimoga and

Hubli-Dharwad. We have identified about 500-acres of land near these

cities for the hubs,” said Nirani.

The hardware policy

envisages setting up of Karnataka Electronics Innovation Fund with an

initial corpus of Rs25 crore to partly finance entrepreneurs for

developing vendor resources, including tooling for electronic

products. The policy also proposes to offer research grants for

innovative electronic hardware products.

“In addition to the 4

manufacturing hubs, a 100-acre mobile handset

manufacturing-cum-assembly will be set up in the IT investment region

near the Bengaluru international airport at Devanhalli, about 40 km

from the city,” added Nirani.

The state IT department

will form a dedicated team comprising officials and members of the

industry to promote the state as the preferred destination for

investments in manufacturing electronic hardware products.