Karnataka: 'Tech address'ing the world

Karnataka: 'Tech address'ing the world

Times of India, May 29, 2010, 05.04am IST

Karnataka is a formidable avatar when it comes to the tech front. Little wonder that it is a prestigious address in the world of tech business today. We bring you some facts and figures which makes Karnataka what she is in the tech galaxy.

As a Knowledge hub Karnataka has 103 R&D Centres, 20 Universities, 158 Engineering Colleges, 39 Medical Colleges, 44 Dental Colleges, 47 International Schools and 1003 Industrial Training Institutes. Powered by over 5 lakh IT professionals, Bangalore, better identified as the IT Capital of India is the 4th largest technology cluster in the world, the other 3 being Silicon Valley, Boston and London. Bangalore has over 2,184 IT Companies of which 743 are MNCs. Of the 87 CMM Level-5 IT Companies in the world, 32 are in Bangalore. And with each passing day Karnataka's family of knowledge workers is only getting bigger.

Foreseeing future growth, the Government blue print on the infrastructure scene has a lot to offer. A fast track elevated expressway leading to Electronic City, hardware tech park near Bangalore International Airport, robust telecom OFC network of over 60,000 Kms etc. are some of them.

Secondary cities are being actively promoted through establishing IT Parks and Networks. High speed data facility operating centres are to soon dot the landscapes of Mangalore, Mysore, Dharwad, Belgaum, Shimoga, Gulbarga, Tumkur and Davanagere. An IT Investment Region (under the GoI scheme) covering a minimum area of 40 Sq Kms or 4,000 hectares of land is being setup near the Bangalore International Airport. If all this were not enough, the Government is also planning Industrial corridors from Bangalore to Davanagere through Tumkur, Bangalore to Bidar, Honnavar to Shimoga and Chitradurga to Belgaum through Haveri, covering most of the districts. The Animation and Gaming Academy is also round the corner.

Strengthening vital infrastructure in Tier-II and III cities seems high on the Government's agenda. Air-connectivity is being augmented in these cities. While the existing airports at Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore are being upgraded, Greenfield airports are being planned in Shimoga and Gulbarga. An IT Park with 2.75 lakh sq ft built-up facility catering to IT & BPO companies and the Aryabhata Tech park at Hubli are already functional.

The Semiconductor Policy 2010 is tell tale of the Government's intent to give a thrust to the hard ware front. Financial assistance to firms for filling IP, assistance to augment the Orchid Tech Space in STPI to a Characterization Lab, special incentives for setting up of ATMPS on a case-to-case based on specific employment potential, a focus school under IIIT equipped with state-of-the-art research labs etc. are some of the policy highlights. There also is a special fund of Rs.10 crores earmarked for semi conductor excellence which will encourage innovation and R & D in Chip Design, product development, telecom etc. apart from the fiscal incentives as per the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2009-2014.

Also in the proposal stage are the ICT and the Electronic Hardware policies. The later may raise the curtain on the Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Hubs (EHMHs) proposed in four corridors. The ICT policy may see the creation of a separate authority for the IT & BT sectors, entry tax exemptions on capital goods and power tariff concessions. Both the policies will have the fiscal incentives as per the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2009-2014.

The Millennium Biotech Policy II is to bring in BT parks such as Nutri-Nutraceutical and Phyto-pharmaceutical (Medicinal Plant) Parks at Mysore, Marine Biotech Park at Mangalore, Vivarium (Animal House) at Bidar and Agri-Biotech Park at Dharwad. The Government also seeks to fund Rs.1 crore per BT finishing school which will bring in 10 BT Finishing Schools. All Research Labs will automatically come under the Green Category. All fiscal incentives and concessions offered under the Karnataka Industrial Policy 2009-2014 shall be extended to the Biotechnology industry and the R & D Centres. The Bangalore Helix - Bangalore Biotech Park with SEZ facilities already offer world class Infrastructure, state-of-the-art Biotech Incubators, Common Instrumentation Facilities and R&D centres. While on the functional aspect are the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) and Centre for Human Genetics (CHG) Campus, elements like Biotech Incubation Centre (BIC), Common Instrumentation Facilities (CIF), Biotech Industries Cluster and Common Effluent Treatment Plant bring in the required value adds for the investor.

Besides, the State Government is now in the process of formalizing steps that may soon bring in the much needed element of 'flexibility in policy initiatives' to cater to the changing demands of the industry. As part of a few more new initiatives, KEONICS is to set up IT parks in secondary cites like Mysore, Mangalore, Shimoga, Belgaum and Gulbarga. BPO units in rural areas are to enjoy fiscal incentives from the Government. As a move to popularize Internet usage in rural areas by, Electronic Public Consumer Outlets (e-PCOs) are to be set up.

If one were to catogorise the existing biggies, the Karnataka tech theatre looks something like this:

Integrated Chip Design - Texas Instruments, Intel, AMD, Siemens, Synopsys, Philips, Analog Devices, National Semiconductors, Freescale Semiconductor, Broadcom etc.

System Software - Oracle, SAP, Novell, Sun Microsystems, HP, Network Associates etc.

Communication Software - Lucent Technologies, Nortel, Siemens, Motorola, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Sony, Sasken, Nokia etc.

Multinational R&D centres - Texas Instruments, Motorola, Daimler Chrysler, General Motors, GE,SAP, AstraZeneca, Microsoft, Intel, Philips, Cisco, Oracle, AMD, IBM etc.

Biotech Exporters - Biocon India Ltd, Sami Labs, Sartorius India Pvt. Ltd, Aurigene Discoveries, Astra Zeneca India, Strand Genomics, Metahelix, Avesthagen, Novozymes Sigma Aldrich, MWG India, Cipla, Himalaya Drug Co., Natural Remedies etc.

In all, Karnataka is on the threshold of a renewed technological revolution. One now has to see how many more await to enter Karnataka when the doors open at the Global Investors Meet 2010.

S M Krishna opens passport service centres

S M Krishna opens passport service centres

ANI 2010-05-28 19:40:00

Bangalore: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Friday that the inauguration of passport seva centres marks the culmination of a long and arduous process of changing a 50-year old system in line with today's needs.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating passport seva centres at Bangalore, Mangalore and Hubli, Krishna said: "Inauguration marks a red letter day in the quest of my Ministry to bring about quantum improvement in the quality of Passport services to our citizens."

"This also marks the culmination of a long and arduous process of changing a 50-year old system in line with today's needs," he added.

Krishna said the change involved a study of the existing processes, study of the procedures being followed in other countries, adapting these best practices to India.

"There were challenges and difficulties which needed to be surmounted before the system could be opened to the public," Krishna said.

In his address, Krishna said the era of globalisation has brought rapid change in the growth rate and integrated India more closely with changing world.

"The process of economic liberalization and reforms envisioned by Shri Rajiv Gandhiji and pursued with dedication and redoubled vigour by the central government since the early 1990s, brought about high growth rates and also integrated our country more closely into the rapidly globalising world," he said.

"The resultant opportunities and the growing proportion of the youth in our county pushed the demand for passports to unprecedented levels and between 1958 and 2006, the number of passport applicants increased 133 times and between 2006 and 2010, the number of passport applicants almost doubled," Krishna added.

The project involves setting up of seventy seven state of the art Passport Seva Kendras across the country in the first phase, a 24x 7 call centre operating in 18 languages, capturing biometrics of all applicants, more counters and increased public dealing hours.

The project also provides connectivity of the system to the district police headquarters to ensure faster police verification, status updates to the citizens through SMS and email, and uniform procedures and transparent and time bound completion of all processes.

"Live trials have revealed that these measures have indeed led to a quantum improvement in the speed of processing of passport applications," Krishna said.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has enhanced the amount payable to the State Government from Rs 100/- to Rs 150/- per verification.

"I would like to request the State Government, through the good offices of the Hon'ble Chief Minister and the senior police officials present, to extend their fullest cooperation to the Passport Office to get all police verification done expeditiously for the benefit of the residents of Karnataka State," Krishna said.

In his address Krishna also appreciated the work of Tata Consultancy Serivices.

Krishna also said a similar centre would be launched at Chandigarh in June.

After the pilot locations start working and are certified by an independent authority, the project will be rolled out across the country. (ANI)