One of the top five industrialised states of India, Karnataka is emerging as an undisputed investment destination for investors. Available opportunities and subsequent benefits along with the investor-friendly policy of the Government make the state an ideal location for business and residence

Major Strengths

• Good infrastructure readily available land, quality power and water
• Highly skilled technical manpower base, a large number of engineering / technical institutions and centers of excellence
• A host of reputed multinational industrial and research organisations
• Technology savvy work force with proficiency in English Language
• Conducive environment, salubrious climate, cultural diversity and cosmopolitan lifestyle
• Excellent healthcare facilities, connectivity, effective law and order and cordial industrial relations
• Fast Growing markets and organised retail network with emphasis on new economy sectors
•  Investor friendly governance combined with excellent logistics support and effective e-governance 

Focus Sectors

Information Technology

• India’s preferred IT Destination with ov er 2,025 IT companies and globad outsourcing hub for IT and ITES
• About 700 MNC’s and 87 Global Fortune 500 companies
• Home to the highest number of CMM Level 5 companies in the world
• Exclusive industrial area for electronic hardware and IT/ITES under development near Bangalore International Airport
• IT & BT zones in Mysore, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Belgaum, Shimoga, Gulbarga, Kolar and Mandya Districts on the anvil
• Setting up of IT parks in Tier II and Tier III cities like Hubli-DHarward, Belgaum, Shimoga, Gulbarge, Davangere, Mangalore etc

Bio-Technology and nanotechnology

• Set to be the prime mover in nanotechnology
• Active State encouragement to nanotechnology through organizing related events
• Leading the biotechnology revolution, attracting large investments
• 197 of 320 of domestic biotech firms in India, 172 in Bangalore
• Major biotech players and exporters : Sami Labs, Biocon, Sartorius, Aurigene, Astra Zeneca, Strand Genomics, Avesthagen
• 106- acre Bio Techn Park near Electronic City, Bangalore
• Pharma Special Economic Zone at Hassan 

Automobiles & auto components

• Manufacturing hub for auto majors like Volvo, Toyota Kirloskar, TVS Suzuki, Telco, L&T Komatsu, BEML and auto component companies like BOSCH, Delphi, Denso, Siemens, Escorts and Rane
• Sector Specific SE for auto components in Shimoga
• Automobile zone spread across Ramanagara, Shimoga, Dharwad and Kolar Districts
• The State has an ideal eco system for automobile industries.
• Karnataka is home to a Vibrant Auto Industry with investments of US $ 713 million and an revenues from the State’s auto sector stood at US $ 604 million.
• Karnataka is the hub for construction equipment in the country
• Engineering exports increased as much as 60% from 2002 and constitute four percent of the exports of the State. 

Apparel/ Textiles/Garments

• Manufacturing base for several leading international apparel brands. Exports worth over Rs.86.94 billion in 2007-08
• Sourcing hub for international apparel brands like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, Walmart. Over 300 manufacturing units in the state
• Sector specific special economic zone for textiles at Hassan
• Textile park at Doddaballapur, Bangalore Rural District
• Suvarna Vastra Neethi ( Textile Policy 2008-13) to boost textile based industries
• Sector specific industrial zones for readymade garments proposed in Bangalore Rural, Tumkur, Kolar, Mandya, Belgaum, Bidar and Dharwad Districts.
• Karnataka’s share of national garment production is 20% and that of exports is about 8%.
• Current garment exports of the state is valued at 0.88 bilion USD, accounting for 15% of the State’s total exports
• 1500 garment units of different sizes concentrated in and around Bangalore with an annual turnover exceeding 1 billion USD.
• Bellary is emerging as the second largest center for the garment industry, next to Bangalore, particularly for jeans.
• Over 6 lakh people are employed in garment industries in the state
• In Sericulture, the State produces 65% of the Country’s raw silk 

Mineral, Steel and Cement

• Abundant mineral resources- Pink and pink multi-coloured granite, gray granite, black and green granite, yellow granite, iron ore, manganese, soap stone, sand stone, moulding sand, limestone/dolomite, quartzite, aluminous laterite etc
• Karnataka Mineral Policy 2008 providing fillip to mineral based industries
• Annual production of over 10.13 million tonnes of cement and 7.29 million tonnes of steel. 25 million tonnes of steel production targeted by 2010.
• Iron ore and mineral exports worth US $ 2.42 billion during 2007-08 

Food Processing

• Vast agriculture and horticulture resources serve as raw material for a wide range of food processing industries
• The only state blessed with 10 agro-climatic zones and nine distinct soil types ideal for growing virtually any agriculture and horticulture crops
• International Flower Auction Board in Bangalore, facilitating flower export
• Food processing SEZ at Hassan. Five agro-food processing industrial parks under development
• Food processing zone encompassing Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Belgaum, Gadag, Koppal, Shimoga, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Davangere, Mandya and Dharwad districts on the anvil
• Karnataka Grape Processing and Wine Policy 2007 providing impetus to the production and marketing of wine and fetching better remuneration to farmers 

Aerospace

• India aerospace Industry to cross US $ 100 billion mark in the next 20 years
• Several reputed aerospace organizations like HAL, NAL, ISRO, DRDO, ADA, DARE,CAIR & BEL located in Bangalore
• Presence of Global R&D giants- BAE systems, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Honeywell, Snecma, General Electric and Turbomeca enchancing the competency in design, production and maintenance
• An aerospace park with facilty for aircraft component manufacturing and MRO facilities being developed near Bangalore International Airport
• Karnataka produces a quarter of aircrafts produced in the country
• BIAL is the first airport in the country under the PPP model
• Four Airports taken up for Development on a PPP basis at Gulbarga, Shimoga, Bijapur and Hasan.
• Karnataka has top Research and Development Centers for the Aerospace Industry
• Karnataka is the first state in the country to have a SEZ for Aerospace 

Oil refining and Petrochemicals

• Excellent infrastructure network in terms of connectivity- port, road and rail
• Mangalore, Refineries & Petrochemicals Limited – the first joint venture oil refinery in India
• An exclusive SEZ for petroleum and petrochemicals at Mangalore 

Tourism

• Ranks 4^th most popular tourist destination among the states of India
• 507 centrally protected monuments of grand total of 3,600 in India. Additional 750 monuments protected by the state
• Major attractions Mysore Palace, Bijapur Gol Gumbaz, erstwhile Vijaynagara capital Hampi, Belur Halebidu sculptures, Jog Falls etc
• Recent initiative include the introduction of “The Golden Chariot”, a train connecting popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa.
• The richness of culture, tradition and hospitality of Karnataka fascinating millions of tourists from all over the globe
• Karnataka’s tourism industry needs more than 25,000 rooms across various destinations and categories
• The new Tourism Policy is aimed at encouraging investments to meet these requirements
• Land Bank has been developed for tourism projects across the State.
• New Focus areas : Heli Tourism, Cruise Tourism, Caravan Tourism 

Healthcare and Medical Tourism

• Largest number of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff coming out every year
• Ample scope for healthcare industry to be driven by software and robotics 

Contract research and R&D

• Vast pool of scientific and technical manpower
• An emerging hub for collaborative and outsourced R&D in drug development, biotechnology and chemicals
• Research and Development facilities of several Fortune 500 companies including GE, GM, Intel , Texas Instruments, Motorola, SAP , Oracle, IBM etc 

MSME’s

• Stable Presence of micro, small and medium enterprises playing a pivotal role in the balanced and holistic industrial development of the state
• MSME’s generating employement, adding value to the products and services while encouraging entrepreneurship
• A strong base of over 3.76 lakh registered MSMEs with investments of about Rs. 100 billion, employing more than 20 lakh persons

International Events

• IT.in – a premier annual ICT event in Asia during November
• Bangalore Bio – an annual biotech event during June
• EXCON – a bi annual excavation and construction equipment show during December
• STONA – a bi annual international stone and granite expo during January
• Aero India a bi annual international air show during February
• Digital Lifestyle – an annual international digital products and hardware event during October
• IMTEX – an annual international machine tools exhibition during January
• Bangalore Nano – An annual event evoking tremendous response