Minister for Higher Education, IT, BT and Skill Development C.N. Ashwath Narayan on Thursday said the Karnataka government is setting up a Global Technology Centre in Mysuru at a cost of ₹30 crore, and added that a first-of-its-kind seed fund has been set up at the cluster level for promoting startups. Each cluster will get ₹25 crore under the ‘Cluster Seed Fund’ initiative, the Minister announced.
In his address at the Big Tech Show-2022, an initiative of the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), here, Mr. Narayan said seven large corporations have given their Letter of Intent (LoI) under Modified Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC 2.0 Scheme) for setting up their operations in Mysuru, investing about ₹1,400 crore and generating nearly 12,000 jobs.
With regard to the Global Technology Centre, a tripartite agreement has been signed between KITS, KSOU and KDEM.
“The centre will be ready by February next year,” the Minister told the gathering.
The Big Tech Show-2022 for the Mysuru cluster ahead of the much-awaited Bengaluru Tech Summit-2022 saw the convergence of the entire industry ecosystem where discussions were held on the importance of emerging clusters to creating a conducive environment through government-academia-industry synergy.
The event has drawn over 400 delegates, more than 1,000 walkathon participants, 50-plus start-ups, over 100-plus CXOs, more than 1,000 students, over 25 investors, and five country partners, according to the organisers. The two-day event concluded on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Narayan said 10 start-ups would get financial support up to ₹10 crore without any collateral from the government under the Start-up Karnataka initiative to fuel innovation.
Mysuru has alone attracted 230 Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) companies. Not many are aware of Mysuru’s growth in the ESDM sector, the Minister said.
Mr. Narayan said the government gave a subsidy of ₹6,000 crore to the Israeli firm that is establishing the country’s first semiconductor plant in Mysuru at a cost of ₹22,900 crore. The government identified 250 acres of land for establishing the plant. “We fast tracked all processes to bring the plant to Mysuru which is the pride of Karnataka and we have great regards for the city that was built by the Mysuru kings,” the Minister said, in his address while stressing on the government’s commitment on making Karnataka the country’s top investment destination.
The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) is focusing on five aspirational areas to spearhead its mandate- IT/ITeS and ESDM; Start-ups and Innovation; ESDM; Beyond Bengaluru; and Talent Accelerator to accomplish the target of making Karnataka a $300 billion digital economy by 2025-26.
Pratap Simha, MP, Additional Chief Secretary (IT and BT) E.V. Ramana Reddy, IT/BT Directorate Director Meena Nagaraj, KDEM Chairman B.V. Naidu, KDEM CEO Sanjeev Gupta, and Deputy Commissioner,, British High Commission, Andrew Fleming, were present.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, could not make it to the event but had sent a video message which was played before the gathering
