Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said his government was very keen to expand the power of entrepreneurship and the power of human capital to the entire State to unleash Karnataka’s growth in its full capacity.
“I strongly believe that my people should be wealthy rather than systems or government being wealthy. Empowerment of people through education and entrepreneurship is critical to achieve this,” he said at the CII annual meeting held virtually.
Karnataka was the pre-independent leader in industrialisation and manufacturing in the areas of defence, machine tools, agriculture machinery, ink, paper, cement, steel, and electrical segments. During the 1950s and 1970s, the State laid a strong foundation for skill development and R&D. Bengaluru has 180 R&D firms of international repute, in addition to ISRO, HAL, NAL, BEL, and a host of pharma companies, Mr. Bommai said.
However, Mr. Bommai said Karnataka’s entrepreneurship skills have to be improved, and the government would conduct a special drive to improve.
“We also lack regional balance in industrial development, which is critical to increasing entrepreneurship quality. I want industries to spread across the State and not just concentrate in certain areas,” he added.
