HUBBALLI: Apart from the proposed plan to set up the country’s first EV cluster, a group of industrialists have recommended the State Government develop a startup hub, manufacturing launch pad, IT tech park, Beyond Bengaluru R&D Fund, and five centres of excellence in the Hubballi-Dharwad-Belagavi (HDB) region.
Soon after the CEOs’ Round Table with Electronics, IT, BT, and Science & Technology Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, the industries that have come together under Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), pushed for these recommendations to improve the industrial investment scenario in the HDB region. Details of their requests were presented to both Narayan and Union minister Pralhad Joshi during the recent Techceleration-2022 convention held here.
The proposed EV cluster over 500 acres by attracting anchor industries, is likely to be a game-changer. The industry has recommended targeting at least two anchor units, the common centre for testing, validation and certification, and the letter of intent should be signed as early as Karnataka Rajyotsava Day this year, with the first unit commencing operations by the H2 of next year.
As the region is rapidly catching up as an attractive destination for startups in the state after Bengaluru, the KDEM is batting for a Karnataka Startup Hub, with world-class infrastructure built to house 5,000 startups. It has been proposed that it be built by the KDEM itself in a public-private partnership, over a 2-lakh square feet area on government land leased for 35 years.
Santosh Huralikoppi, an entrepreneur who operates an ITeS company in Hubballi, said the total budget required to realise this project would be Rs 100 crore, adding that its outcome would have a positive impact on the valuation of startups, while also creating over 25,000 new jobs.
Plug-n-play setup
Another major recommendation is to build a 1-lakh square feet manufacturing launch pad, which will act as a plug-n-play setup for engineering and manufacturing companies to scale up their business. Meanwhile, apart from announcing a Rs 500-core R&D fund for the region, the KDEM is seeking the establishment of five centres of excellence, with an investment of Rs 20 crore per centre, to boost training in R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship.