The Siddaramaiah government has provided an outlay of Rs 247 crore to IT, BT, Science and Technology department in the state budget for 2018-19.
The Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said Rs one crore grant would be given to providing Department of Science and Technology Scholarship for research students of PhD in science and engineering. The government also proposed to establish a mini 3-D planetarium in Belagavi at a cost of Rs three crore, he said presenting the budget in the state assembly.
Announcing a flurry of new schemes for 2018-19 in these sectors, Siddaramaiah said an incubation centre would be set up at Kalaburagi in association with Deshpande Foundation at a cost of Rs five crore to promote startups in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah said the Karnataka Innovation Authority would be set up under his chairmanship to encourage innovations in different areas.
The government also proposed to launch new programmes to encourage the development of the manufacturing sector, protection of Intellectual Property Rights, especially keeping in mind development institutions, entrepreneurs and startups, he said. "An archive of patents will be created so as to facilitate storing, corroborating and exchange of patents. This promotes innovation," the Chief Minister said. Siddaramaiah further said a 'Legal Framework for Innovation' would be established to bring new and emerging technologies under a legal framework until an appropriate law is enacted. "This will enable the introduction of such technologies in Karnataka," he added.
On the achievements of the government in the last five years in these sectors, Siddaramaiah said as many as 1,022 programmes have been assisted during this period.