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Karnataka committed to creating start-up friendly environment: Priyank Kharge

Minister of State for Information Technology and Bio-Technology Priyank Kharge has reiterated Karnataka government’s commitment to create a conducive business atmosphere for start-ups better than any other State in the country.

Addressing an international seminar on Internet of Things at Sharanabasaveshwara Vidya Vardhak Sangh on February 28 he said that the State was much ahead of rest of the country in creating a start-up friendly environment by giving prominence to ideation, innovation and invention for attracting investments.

Contrary to other States which talk only on investments, we in Karnataka give adequate importance to ideation, materialising the innovation and invention which, we feel, will naturally attract investment.”

Pointing to the Central government’s ambitious initiative of Startup India, Kharge said that Karnataka had already moved forward whereas other States and the Union government were still conceptualising the idea.

We are the only State in India to have a start-up policy and a start-up cell to encourage and facilitate young entrepreneurs. With financial and policy support from the State government, thousands of start-ups are making strides. In Bengaluru alone, 2,500 start-ups are flourishing. Now, we are the leaders of not just information and biotechnology, but emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and internet of things as well.”

The Minister said that the Hyderabad Karnataka Regional Development Board would spend a part of its funds for start-ups. “We have a problem not of dearth of ideas but of their materialisation. HKRDB Chairman and Kalaburagi in-charge minister Sharan Prakash Patil has agreed in principal to spend a part of amount for materialising the ideas by young entrepreneurs in their start-up ventures.

H M Maheshwaraiah, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka (CUK), Kalaburagi, said that the President was keen on having start-up programmes in all central universities and institutes. “The Union government has sanctioned Rs. 12 crore for establishing wifi connectivity and digital library on the campus of CUK, Kalaburagi,” he said.

Sharanabasappa Appa, President of Sharanabasaveshwara Vidya Vardhak Sangha, Shivakumar Mathapathi, Co-founder and CEO of Dew Mobility, U.S., Dr. Martin Serrano, Research Director and Scientific Coordinator at Internet of Things unit, National University of Ireland, Dr. Prem Prakash Jayaraman, Research Fellow in Internet of Things Key lab at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, and others were present.

Source: The Hindu