Structure of the answer

• Introduction – briefly about the ICT and hardware in Karnataka
• Body – purpose of the policy, main features of the policy in brief
• Conclusion- 2-3 lines about the significance of the policy

Content

Karnataka Electronics Hardware Policy, 2011

• The Karnataka Government launched its Electronics Hardware Policy, 2011 with a focus on tier II or smaller cities.
• In fact, the policy states that one of the key objectives is to spread prosperity beyond Bangalore across the
• It also mentions that Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have been able to attract more investment than the
• Under the policy, the government proposes to set up four Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Hubs (EHMH) in four corridors, which will be operated as Special Economic Zones.
  • Bangalore-Tumkur corridor: Semiconductors, Solar energy, Embedded systems etc
  • Hubli-Dharwar corridor: Automotive Electronics
  • Mysore-Nanjangud corridor: Medical Electronics
• Shimoga-Hassan : Electronics components, Plastics, Metal fabrication
• Each hub will be granted 500 acre of land on a 30-year renewable lease “for a very low, attractive fee”. Of which, 200 acre each will be earmarked for large units on a ready-to- install basis, 50 acre each for testing labs, warehouses, and other amenities.
• Apart from EHMHs, in order to give sops to the industry based on the backwardness of a district, the State has divided Talukas in different districts as per various zones, with Zone-3 indicating a backward Taluka, Zone-2 indicating a more backward Taluka and Zone-1 indicating the most backward
• Companies will be given various subsidies based on where they are investing; for example, exemption of stamp duty is 100 per cent for Zone-1 and Zone-2 areas and 75 per cent for Zone-3 areas. The same percentages also apply to waiver of conversion fee from agricultural use to industrial
• According to the policy, a single window clearance agency of the government will also be formed to ‘speedily’ handle matters of labour, power and pollution.
• Interested investors will be provided fiscal incentives as per the Karnataka Industrial

Karnataka Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Policy 2013

• ESDM as an emerging sector is strongly aligned to the professional skills, knowledge base and managerial talent available in the state of Karnataka in the field of VLSI, semiconductor chip design and embedded
• As of 2012, Karnataka has 85 chip design houses, 336 R&D facilities, delivers outsourced information technology solutions to over 400 of the global Fortune 500 companies and has over 6 lakh technology professionals employed in Bangalore
• The policy aims to make the state emerge as a leading contributor to India’s ESDM sector by capturing at least 10 per cent of the US$ 400 billion worth of investments by 2020.
• The state will also strive to generate over 20 per cent of the country’s total ESDM export target of US$ 80 billion by 2020.
• Some of the other highlights are:
  • developing core competencies in specific ESDM verticals such as telecom, defence electronics, avionics and energy;
  • generating at least 240,000 new jobs;
  • enabling an environment so that 25 per cent of India’s PhDs and 5000 patent filings in the ESDM sector would come from Karnataka by 2020.
• The policy offers one of the most lucrative set of incentives for the investors for ESDM Additionally, all the incentives under Karnataka Industrial Policy will also apply to these investors.

Information & Communications Technology Policy 2011

1. The IT policy of Karnataka, already being a success in the last 10 years that saw number of IT companies treble crossing 2100 and contributing to IT exports to over $16.8 billion during 2009-10 from $ 6 billion during 2000-01
2. The revised ICT policy of the state undertakes to consolidate the advantageous position of the
3. Under this, the government is to set up a research hub in Bangalore with a prototype-cum- testing lab, with 50 percent state funding for setting up the required
4. The policy also encourages setting up innovation park on public-private partnership (PPP) model for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangalore and dedicated special economic zones (SEZs) for SMEs at Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharward, Gulbarga and Belgaum in the respective industrial
5. The new ICT policy calls for decongesting Bangalore by developing satellite townships at Ramanagaram, Devanhalli, Hoskote and
6. Apart from these, most of the fiscal incentives like capital subsidies, stamp duty exemption, electricity duty exemption, relief under SEZ regulations etc