Karnataka may offer sops to step up smartphone production, exports
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Karnataka may come up with specific concessions to scale up smartphone manufacturing and step up the state's share in smartphone exports.Industries minister MB Patil and IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge felt the need for such an incentive package. The two ministers held a meeting with officials in Bengaluru in this regard, where they discussed projects that require joint implementation by both their departments.At present, 44% of smartphones manufactured in India are exported to the US. China's share in smartphone exports to the US has dropped from 61% to 25%. Vietnam, however, commands half of this export market. Karnataka needs to gear up to face this competition by scaling up its production capacities, the ministers felt at the meeting, according to an official statement.Both Patil and Kharge felt the state would have to offer certain specific concessions to scale up smartphone exports. Principal secretary (industries) S Selvakumar; IT/BT secretary Ekroop Kaur; industries commissioner Gunjan Krishna; KIADB CEO Mahesh, and IT/BT director Rahul Sankanur were present at the meeting.Patil and Kharge also decided to discuss with chief minister Siddaramaiah about the investment promotion incentive policy being prepared by the industry & IT/BT departments.The policy framework for incentives and concessions for several key industries, including the proposed Space Park and Electronic Components Manufacturing Park, was in the preparatory stage. The IT department was formulating a special incentive policy for the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector, Patil said.The industries department is also expected to develop a strategy to attract investments in the electronic manufacturing sector. In some cases, overlaps in incentives offered by both departments have been observed, the minister said, adding that the government would work to remove overlaps.The IT/BT department, Kharge said, was keen on establishing several upcoming projects. These include a 100-acre Space Park either near Doddaballapura or at ITIR near Devanahalli, a 150-acre PCB Park at Kochanahalli in Mysuru, 100 acres each for a Global Innovation City at KWIN City/Adakanahalli-Kochanahalli, a 20-acre drone testing centre at Hesaraghatta, and a 100-acre KEONICS plug-and-play facility at Adakanahalli/Kochanahalli. He added that he has requested the industries department to allocate plots of land for these projects.The government may identify alternative sites for drone testing since Hesarghatta has now become part of Bengaluru. Such a facility can come up only in isolated areas.As for data science centres and manufacturing plants, minister Patil said these industries required substantial power and water supply. At present, industries in Bengaluru are being provided with two to three thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of water, whereas other regions lack such access to water. To address this, the government is considering formulating an Industrial Water Security Policy and promoting alternative power generation.The government plans to supply half the required water to industries, while the industries must manage the remaining half by using recycled water. The government has drawn up a plan to supply water to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 3,750 crore, Patil said.
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