The Karnataka government will constitute new vision groups to promote development in seven sectors including aerospace and defence, machine tools, ESDM, core manufacturing, pharma, startups (non-IT) and auto/EV, said M.B. Patil, Minister for Large and Medium Industries.
He was speaking at a meeting with leading industrialists held here on Monday evening to exchange ideas about promoting industrial growth in the State.
The Minister said these proposed vision groups, comprising industry experts, public sector officials and academic experts, would provide holistic guidance to the department and lead industrial progress in the right direction.
The government is also keen on promoting manufacturing and industrialisation in sectors such as future mobility, green hydrogen, food processing, textiles, and warehousing & logistics, Mr. Patil informed industry representatives.
Plans to set up Karnataka Aerospace Technology Centre
The State attracted investment commitments worth ₹2.8 lakh crore in the green hydrogen space from multiple players. Karnataka would set up the country’s first green hydrogen cluster in Mangaluru to facilitate required infrastructure including land, water and electricity to investors, as per norms, the minister said.
He added that the State government also planned to set up a Karnataka Aerospace Technology Centre at Devanahalli R&D Park to ease information dissemination, enable networks and market linkages, and create Common Facility Centre (CFC) and incubation centres. Intensive efforts were underway to pursue opportunities worth approximately ₹2.5 lakh crore, he stated.
Karnataka as manufacturing hub of Asia
Mr. Patil further said an IFS officer of PCCF (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests) grade would be appointed within the industries department to facilitate resolving environment-related issues. He assured that his government would always consider the frank suggestions of industrialists and experts. He also said his priority would be to create jobs by achieving ease of doing business and making Karnataka the manufacturing hub of Asia.
Senior officials from Toyota Kirloskar, Tata Motors, Texas Instruments, Foxconn and Asian Paints were among 30 industry representatives at the meeting. Heads of consulate offices of various countries and representatives from trade bodies such as CII, FICCI, FKCCI, AWAKE, and KASSIA also attended the meeting. S. Selva Kumar, Principal Secretary, and Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner, Department of Industries were present.
