Karnataka govt launches ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ to get IT companies to move to tier 2 cities

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KEY STORY

  • The Karnataka Government plans to push for the expansion of the IT sector in the state to look at geographical locations within the state, outside of Bengaluru.
  • To make this happen, the state government launched a project dubbed ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ that intends to give several incentives to companies to set up in cities like Mangaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi, Hubbali, Shivamogga,and other in order to  ‘build innovation and a technology ecosystem’.
  • Unveiling the plan on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan, who holds the portfolio for IT, BT, and S&T said, “With work from home becoming a normal due to the pandemic, the government hopes to set up an ecosystem in four cities which can create an effective talent pool.”
  • The state currently heavily relies on the capital from where over 90% of the revenue is generated. With this in mind, the government intends to set up a task force with stakeholders from the industry, bureaucracy, government and experts to put together an action plan to realise his ambitious project.
  • The government, the minister added, is looking at reverse-migration where it will be possible for people to work efficiently from tier 2 and 3 cities and said that the government is in talks with telecom companies to make this possible with seamless network.

CONCLUSION

  • To further encourage companies from movies to these cities, the government plans to provide work spaces with plug and play facilities, tax rebates for companies, marketing expense reimbursements, patent expense reimbursements, and several other benefits for companies meeting certain criteria set.
  • This is not the first time that the Karnataka government tried to decongest Bengaluru by trying to lure companies to move to other cities. In 2013, the then state government had set up IT parks in cities like Mangaluru, Hubli, Tumakuru and Mysuru and had even allowed exemption of stamp duty up to 75% for IT companies in a few of these cities. But in the past, these initiatives have not yielded successful results.

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