‘New industrial policy is most welcome’

The Karnataka budget presentation was overshadowed by the politics around the coalition government. However, the Chief Minister did present the full budget. An important point for me was the allocation of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the development of Bengaluru city. Bengaluru is an international city, the fastest growing city in Asia and hence, needs investments in infrastructure. Along with this, there are allocations for the Metro rail project, elevated road project, and for pedestrian roads. There is an allocation of Rs 16,579 crore to develop a metro rail line from Central Silk Board junction to the BIAL airport — a much-needed project.

Secondly, the Chief Minister, said in the budget that the government will bring out a new industrial policy, and a revision to the IT policy. It is proposed to further develop industries in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

The government plans to develop industrial areas at Arasikere in Hassan district, Nagamangala in Mandya district, Chittapur in Kalaburagi district, Mulavad in Vijayapura district, Kanagala in Belagavi district and Madhugiri in Tumakuru district through Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. This will help accelerate the distribution of industrial development across the state.

Thirdly, there are multiple investments and incentives for the agriculture sector. The government’s focus is on irrigation, drinking water, filling up desisted tanks, digging ponds for agriculture. If the state has to develop across all sectors, these investments are required.

Lastly, there is an indication of additional excise duty on low alcohol beverages manufactured by micro breweries. Since these are micro and small enterprises, I hope this will not affect their growth.

There was no mention of startups or entrepreneurship in the budget speech. We also need to look at the support for research and innovation. I hope the momentum of startups are sustained so that Karnataka can continue to lead in State Gross Domestic Product growth and job creation.

In short, the investments in Bengaluru development and agriculture are the highlights of this budget.

Kris Gopalakrishnan
Infosys Co-founder