BENGALURU: The Karnataka Department of IT/BTon Monday launched its Local Economy Accelerator Programme (LEAP) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas.
Revealing this to the TNIE, IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the state government has announced an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore to implement the programme, which is expected to create five lakh jobs.
Priyank said LEAP was announced in this year’s budget. The aim is to create cluster-based economic accelerators outside Bengaluru. It could be exclusively IT and BT, IT/BT or electronics or skill development. It should not be limited to Bengaluru alone, but spread across the state. The government has announced Rs 1,000 crore for Phase I of LEAP, which is the first of its kind with so much funding.
“We are investing Rs 1,000 crore and generating five lakh jobs. We are taking a cluster-based approach, where two to three districts will be considered as a cluster. In Karnataka, IT exports from Mysuru last year amounted to Rs 5,700 crore, Rs 2,800 crore from Mangaluru and Rs 2,500 crore from Belagavi-Hubballi.
Each cluster will have a different sector. All innovations and startups are happening in these places, but in a small way. People from these regions go to Bengaluru for jobs. We want to help them get jobs in their places. We will work with industries, private accelerators, and venture capitalist and education institutions,’’ he said.
The minister said of the Rs 1,000-crore allocation, Rs 100 crore will be towards deep tech corpus, while Rs 200 crore will be invested by the private sector. Through this, startups in areas such as AI and cyber technology outside Bengaluru will get aid.
Karnataka has established many centres of excellence based on the local economy. In Mangaluru, the focus will be on marine biotech. In Kalaburagi, agri-based units will be set up to produce super food. Such centres need incubators, manpower and training centres. A need-based plan will be formulated.
As part of LEAP, the government has plans to extend the ELEVATE grant model (Its a grant-in-aid seed funding scheme) to startups in tier II and tier III cities. “We will help them build physical infrastructure and offer structured programmes that help early stage ventures grow,’’ he said.