Karnataka’s Cabinet on Thursday approved three proposals totalling more than ₹400 crores to enhance technology infrastructure and drive regional growth.
The initiatives include a ₹75 crore unified Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund, ₹50 crore for the Semiconductor Future Accelerator Lab (SFAL 2.0), and ₹285 crore for the expansion of the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B).
This development was announced by Karnataka’s electronics and IT/BT minister, Priyank M Kharge, in his recent LinkedIn post.
The Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund aims to promote startups in tier-2 and 3 cities like Hubballi-Dharwad, Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Kalaburagi, focusing on sectors such as agritech, deep tech, artificial intelligence (AI), and manufacturing.
Startups will receive seed funding, incubation support, and market access opportunities with the goal to have over 10,000 startups emerge from these clusters by 2030.
SFAL 2.0 will position Karnataka as a leader in the semiconductor sector, focusing on IP creation, research, product development, and supporting fabless startups.
This comes after the state announced setting up India’s first facility to manufacture semiconductor equipment for global customers in January this year.
The move will also strengthen MSMEs and develop future skills through workforce training. SFAL 1.0 has accelerated 95 SMEs already, incubated 45 startups and trained over 500 skilled engineers.
The expansion of IIIT-B, with a commitment of ₹285 crore, will enhance its technology ecosystem, accommodating 4,500 students and boosting R&D capabilities in emerging technologies like AI, cybersecurity, and data science.
According to Kharge, graduates will be equipped with industry-aligned skills, making them highly employable. Manjunath Jyothinagara, MD, at KASFAB Tools, also stressed the need for skilled labour in an interview with AIM.
Recently, the state garnered over ₹10.27 lakh crore in investment proposals and $115 billion in funding during the Invest Karnataka 2025, focusing on sectors like renewable energy and semiconductors. This aims to create 20 lakh jobs by 2029.
In November last year, the state government launched entrepreneurship programs to boost startups, and signed significant MoUs with big tech companies aiming to train 100,000 people with an expected potential investment of $17.5 billion.
In December 2024, Karnataka also approved an investment of ₹3,425.60 crore to set up the first electronics manufacturing cluster at Kochanahalli in Mysuru. The cluster aimed to create 460 jobs in the district adjoining India’s Silicon Valley.
