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.