Karnataka govt, Nasscom focuses on driving IT and entrepreneurial growth in state

Karnataka will soon have a policy for entrepreneurial growth with innovation to build an ecosystem attractive to angel investments, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday.

Angel investors are wealthy individuals who provide capital for start-up firms.

"We are working on a set of policy measures to promote entrepreneurial growth and attract early stage investments in the state," Siddaramaiah told India Inc at a two-day annual summit on innovation and start-ups here.

Asserting that Karnataka was resourceful in meeting the national agenda for setting up an entrepreneurial eco-system, he said that many such policies proved beneficial as they took the partners-in-progress approach to all stakeholders, including industry, academia and the state.

Noting that promotion of early stage investments to woo angel investors or venture funds with incentives was imperative, Siddarmaiah recalled that the state had created an ecosystem in the mid-90s for the rapid growth of the software sector with the help of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and its dedicated satellite gateway in the Electronics City.

The growing IT-telecom infrastructure presents huge opportunity for technology-focused businesses. Similarly, healthcare industry is projected to grow seven times while expenditure on higher education is poised to expand five times by 2020.

The policy measures have also found resonance in Nasscom showcasing Karnataka's cultural capital Mysore as the next destination for IT and electronics industry in the southern state.

As the next wave of growth is expected to be driven by small and emerging firms through innovation and entrepreneurship, the industry's representative body is targeting Rs 15,000 crore business, including 10 percent of export revenue from Mysore during the next three years.

Delivering a range of software services and products to over 70 countries worldwide in 35 different languages, the Indian IT industry is aiming at $300 billion business by 2020 from $108 billion in 2013, and to contribute 12 percent to the country's GDP (gross domestic product) from 7.5 percent currently.

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) of the union IT ministry is setting up a 50,000 square feet incubation facility at Mysore to promote innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to set up their firms in the new IT destination.