Will have policy on global capability centres policy ready by B'luru Tech Summit: Priyank Kharge

Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister for IT/BT Priyank Kharge on Monday promised to expedite the drafting of the global capability centres policy and release it by the time Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024 is held in November this year.

Kharge was addressing the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) meet organised by the Department of IT/BT to promote the Tech Summit among its partner countries and international trade mission representatives.

GIA was conceptualised in 2017 under the Karnataka Unit for International Co-operation (KUIC), and the GIA partners have grown from 10 countries in 2018 to more than 30 in 2024.

"Bengaluru is the leading destination for companies across Europe as well as the America to set up shop in India and more than 40 per cent of all the global capability centres (GCCs) are being set up in Karnataka," Kharge pointed out.

According to him, this is a win-win situation for all stakeholders concerned, because by fostering global collaborations they not only learn from each other's ecosystem, but they also create new markets for technologies.

"In just the last couple of years the foreign direct investment to Bengaluru has been over $45 billion and global corporations like Intel, Cisco and Google have set up their R&D facilities here in Bengaluru, which is contributing significantly for their global innovation efforts," he added.

This is why, added Kharge, the first draft of GCC policy of Karnataka will be ready by this month's end, so that stakeholders could evaluate and add suggestions.

"I think that's (stakeholders' feedback) very very important because this policy will not only be changing the dynamics of the Indian economy, but also will be changing the dynamics of the economies across the globe," added Kharge.

He also said the concept of sister cities can be leveraged further for the benefit of both the cities involved. Right now, he said although there is the sister city agreement, their ambit is very wide.

"Like the UN Charter. But why can't we have specific corridors for the sister city? For example, with San Francisco, how about having an AI corridor? Or we would love to partner with the Netherlands for water management, so I can ensure there are better technologies for water management," the Minister added.

Kharge also talked about how the state of Karnataka is working towards skilling its workforce.

"In the next couple of days, we will be coming up with probably India’s best skilling programme for emerging technologies. We will be investing Rs 100 crore from our end and we are looking at partners who will engage through their Corporate Development Fund to ensure we build the most agile human resource in the world," he said.

The GIA Meet was attended by the Consul Generals of GIA countries.

H V Darshan, Director, Department of Electronics, IT-BT, and Managing Director, KITS, Government of Karnataka and Ekroop Caur, Secretary to Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka were also present.

This year, the theme of BTS will be 'Breaking Boundaries' and the event will feature a range of activities including a six-track conference covering IT & Deep Tech, Startup Ecosystem, Global Innovation Alliance and India-USA Tech Conclave among others.

There will also be an exhibition featuring over 700 exhibitors, including more than 500 startups.