Karnataka To Become India's Top Bio-Economy Centre: CM Yediyurappa

Karnataka has set a target of achieving 50 per cent market share of the $100-billion national bio-economy by 2025, said Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

"We have set a target of achieving 50 per cent market share of the $100-billion national bio-economy in the next five years, as the state has been at the forefront of harnessing biotechnology over the past two decades," said Yediyurappa at the Bengaluru Tech Summit here.

Bio-economy is an activity involving the use of biotechnology in the production of goods, services or energy from biological material as the primary resource base.

Addressing delegates participating in the 3-day summit online and offline, the Chief Minister said four out of seven startups which became unicorns in 2020 were from Bengaluru, as the state has a robust ecosystem for technology growth.

An unicorn is a privately held startup firm valued at $1 billion. Coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013, the term refers to the mythical animal, representing the statistical rarity of successful ventures.

"The state government has amended labour and land laws, set up a digital economy mission, an innovation authority and drafted a new IT policy to push IT beyond Bengaluru, with a view to creating 60 lakh jobs across the state over the next five years," asserted Yediyurappa.

Noting that digital transformation was happening at a rapid pace amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the chief minister said the central government's Make in India and Digital India flagship programmes were driving the country's economic growth.

"As Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to achieve self-reliance needs a greater focus on developing indigenous technologies, Karnataka would work to achieve it through friendly policies," reiterated Yediyurappa.

On making Karnataka a favourite investment destination, especially in high-end technologies, the Chief Minister said the state government had taken a slew of initiatives to enhance the overall business environment.

Lauding the delegates participating in the summit from 25 countries the world over in the virtual mode, Yediyurappa said the mega event was being held to showcase the state's strengths and opportunities to attract investments, talent and create jobs in partnership with the industry and academia.