We are now promoting our spokeshore model: Ashwath Narayan

Karnataka will use the latest edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit to think beyond ‘India’s Silicon Valley’ and promote its “spokeshore” model, Karnataka IT/BT Minister CN Ashwath Narayan told DH on Monday.

The coined term refers to a model where IT offshoring destination Bengaluru will now act as a central hub for startups and innovation, and adjacent tier 2 clusters such as Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Mangaluru will act as a series of spokes that connect outlying points to it.

“The Bangalore model is offshore and we are now promoting our spokeshore model,” the minister said in an exclusive interaction ahead of the marquee tech event. “So now, from Bangalore to other places, it is going to be a spokeshore model.”

While the digital economy target for India is a whopping $1 trillion by 2025, the state has a humbler goal.

“In Karnataka, we are targeting a minimum of $300 billion digital economy and that cannot be

achieved in Bengaluru (alone),” he said. “If we really want to achieve that, we need to move beyond Bengaluru.”

Karnataka, which launched a scheme called ELEVATE to identify and nurture innovative startups, is increasingly looking to promote entrepreneurship in smaller towns.

”Almost 40% in ELEVATE selected in any way are from beyond Bengaluru,” Narayan said.

The state is gearing up for the silver jubilee of the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which will start on Wednesday and see participants from 30 countries and over 550 startups.