Karnataka Digital Economy Mission office inaugurated, 'Beyond Bengaluru' report launched

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 10 (ANI): The office of the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) which has the objective of increasing digital economy contribution to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to 30 per cent was inaugurated and the "Beyond Bengaluru" report which facilitates to achieve this target was launched on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwatha Narayana said, "The government wanted KDEM to be more industry-friendly and keeping this in mind it has allowed for 51 per cent stakes to industry associations while retaining a minority holding of 49 per cent for itself. The government wants to act rather as a facilitator than an authority".
In order to strengthen the digital economy, the government will focus on improving connectivity even to remote parts, providing 24/7 electricity, and reducing the rural-urban divide by establishing needed infrastructure, he explained.
Highlighting that the industry sector is not showing interest to take up students for internships, he said this needs to be changed and they should be encouraged to undergo internship as youth is the future of the country and talent needs to be nurtured.
The KDEM aims to attract investments for the IT/ITeS sector in the state and to create 10 lakh jobs by 2025. It works to achieve the target by focusing on 5 verticals of IT products and services, Innovation and Startups, Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), 'Beyond Bengaluru', and 'Talent Accelerator'.
He expressed confidence that KDEM would help Karnataka to reach the goal of 150 billion dollars in IT exports and also to become a 300 billion dollars economy by 2025.
Dr EV Ramana Reddy, ACS, Department of Electronics, IT/BT and S&T said, "At present, the contribution of IT sector to the GSDP is 25 per cent and in this Bengaluru alone accounts for nearly 98 per cent. Keeping this in view and to increase the contribution of other regions, the 'Beyond Bengaluru' project has been initiated. By the time when India aims to become a trillion-dollar economy in the coming five years, the contribution of 'Beyond Bengaluru' should be in a position to contribute 10 per cent to GSDP." (ANI)