INDIA – The Karnataka government wants to make Bengaluru the “Number 1 Silicon City in the world”, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday. He pledged to provide better infrastructure and focus on decongestion of traffic, during the curtain raiser for Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022. The State government is due to organise the 25th Bengaluru Tech Summit — BTS 2022 — from November 16 to 18.
Interacting with more than 100 representatives of various IT-BT companies for more than three hours, Bommai said the government will focus on IT pockets of Bengaluru as well as improve infrastructure on the city outskirts.
“When it comes to Silicon Cities, there are only two in the world — California in US and Bengaluru in India. We want to make Bengaluru Number 1 Silicon City,’’ he said. He said the government will create more novel clusters in research and attract youngsters in the field of IT-BT and other sectors. He assured the firms that they could work together to make Bengaluru the best Silicon City.
Bommai told reporters that with the Bengaluru Tech Summit approaching its silver jubilee year, the government has decided to raise the flagship tech event to the international level. On his interaction with entrepreneurs and representatives of the IT-BT sector, he said, “These representatives have given suggestions on policies, industrial growth, creating ideal ecosystem, technological aspects and even infrastructure. We have also responded positively. BTS 2022 will give a new dimension to the technology sector.”
Many company CEOs and representatives had stressed on skilled human resources and the State government will work towards it, Bommai said. There is a need for skilled human resources, and to encourage IT-BT, research and startup sectors, the State government is committed to develop basic amenities in Bengaluru, for which the draft plan is ready.
A sum of Rs 8,000 crore has been kept aside for development of basic amenities, which was announced in the budget. After the monsoon, all roads will be developed, and Metro Phase 3, Bengaluru Suburban Rail, Peripheral Ring Road, Satellite Town Ring Road will also be taken up. The government is also setting up facilities under Beyond Bengaluru at Mysuru, Hubballi and other Tier-II cities.
IT-BT Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan said they started preparations seven months ahead of BTS 2022, organising events in the US, UK, Japan and other countries to woo them. Karnataka has set a target of contributing $1.5 trillion to make India a $5 trillion economy. Karnataka has drawn the biggest share of 40 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment India drew in the last financial year, amounting to $17.3 billion, he said. Karnataka is at the top spot in exports too, he added.
The next futuristic technologies such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Web3.0 and Metaverse, apart from IT, and Deeptech will be major highlights at the 25th edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 (BTS 2022) that will be held physically from November 16-18 at the Bengaluru Palace. Over 300 speakers from 25 countries, 400 exhibitors and more than 300 startups are expected to participate in the event. CM Bommai held a meeting with over 100 CEOs and leaders from Electronics, IT, Biotech and startups on Monday, and invited them to be a part of the BTS. The CEOs shared their ideas to create innovation clusters. They also said that BTS should focus on cutting-edge research and should attract a high-end research pool, better access to risk capital, facilitating global linkages and attracting more GCCs (Gulf Cooperation Council). IT&BT Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said PM Narendra Modi will be invited to inaugurate the summit.
