Our policies are drafted after listening to stakeholders: Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge
Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT/BT and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka, said policymaking is challenging and that the government must keep learning, unlearning, and relearning to avoid introducing poorly designed schemes.
Karnataka's recent policies have been drafted after significant engagement with various stakeholders, said Priyank Kharge, Minister of Electronics, Information Technology & Biotechnology, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka.
"If I don't attend events like these, if I don't talk to the community, If I don't reach out to industry leaders, If I don't reach out to think tanks, how will I know what's happening in the ecosystem?," asked Kharge during a fireside chat with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma.
"How will I know what the vertical or what the sector needs? So one of the reasons why we are such a prosperous state is because all our policies are drafted by listening. It's a collaboration. It is participatory in nature."
Kharge was speaking at the 16th edition of YourStory’s flagship event TechSparks 2025.
The Karnataka government has rolled out a number of policies in areas like GCC, spacetech, biotech, engineering, and research and development, he said.
"Even the skilling policy that has come out, Rs 4,500 crores I am spending," said Kharge. "We've spoken to individuals... It's a difficult job, but I think we have to be participatory by default. Otherwise, we end up with wrong schemes, bad schemes that will ensure that startups don't grow, innovation is stifled... We might fail, but at least we should be trying."
Earlier this week, Kharge said he wants to make Karnataka the deeptech capital of India. The state government has announced a Rs 600 crore investment pool to launch initiatives aimed at accelerating growth in the sector. On Wednesday, he said the Karnataka government is open to setting up an inclusive incubator focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling people with disabilities.
According to Kharge, the Rs 600 crore investment earmarked for deeptech includes Rs 150 crore for the DeepTech Elevate Fund, which will focus on AI and other frontier technologies, and Rs 80 crore under the Elevate Beyond Bengaluru Fund to promote startups in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, and Kalaburagi.
Edited by Megha Reddy