BENGALURU: IT- BT and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge said the future of Karnataka is not just the IT- BT sector but bio- industries and that the state is now working on setting up bio-foundries in five acres of land in Bengaluru Business Corridor at the cost of Rs 35 crore.
Speaking to The New Indian Express at the sidelines of the inauguration of the Bengaluru Tech Summit, he said, bio-engineering is a sector where Karnataka is becoming a leader. A proposal has been sent to the central government on the same. He said the government is working on creating the eco-system for their functioning.
The Bangalore Bio-innovation Centre, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Programmes (C-CAMP) and Association for Biotechnology Led Entreprises (ABLE) are some of the institutions already pioneering in it.
He said, “The focus of the tech summit and default policies of the government are designed for Beyond Bengaluru, but we cannot stop anyone investing in Bengaluru. The government is looking for funding for regions of Kalyana Karnataka and already 10,000 start ups are working on projects Beyond Bengaluru.”
Addressing the issue of the government sector absorbing the start-up firms, Kharge said, the RDPR department is working with 10 of them on improving water, sanitation and soil stabilisation and roads in rural areas. He added that the government is also using the assistance of the IT firms in strengthening the education sector focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), rather than on smart classes and tabs.
On the question of what the government is looking to draw from the tech summit he said, bio- manufacturing, space technology, defence and centre for excellence in the manufacturing sector are some of the key lookout areas. The government is also looking at drawing the maximum from the space tech, EV and circular economy policies, he added.