Karnataka government takes LEAP with cluster-based innovation support

Bengaluru: The state government on Monday launched the Local Economy Accelerator Programme (LEAP) to create five lakh jobs with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, which includes a Rs 300-crore corpus to fund deep tech startups and other innovations outside Bengaluru.

“LEAP will help groom talent and innovations across the state, which will benefit India while building sustainable solutions for the world,” said IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge after unveiling the programme that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced in the 2025-26 budget.

Under the LEAP, Priyank said the government would build clusters. 

“Manipal-Udupi-Mangaluru will be one cluster. Similarly, Hubballi-Belagavi-Dharwad (HBD), Mysuru-Bengaluru South, Tumakuru-Shivamogga and Kalaburagi will be clusters,” the minister added.

Priyank pointed out that cities outside Bengaluru are contributing to IT exports. “Mysuru saw IT exports worth Rs 5,700 crore last year. It was Rs 2,800 crore in Mangaluru and Rs 2,500 crore in Belagavi-Hubballi,” he said, adding that the LEAP would encourage this ecosystem. 

Under the LEAP, the government is floating a fund-of-funds for deep tech startups.

“The government is investing Rs 100 crore and the private sector will provide Rs 200 crore,” Priyank said. 

Also under the LEAP, various centres of excellence will be established based on the local economy.

“For example, we have marine biotech in Mangaluru. We’re also bringing out a biodiversity policy. We’re setting up an agri-tech accelerator in Kalaburagi. There’s potential for electric vehicle manufacturing in Belagavi. So, we’ll come up with a plan depending on local needs,” he said.

The government is setting aside Rs 120 crore for Karnataka Startup Foundry. “We’ll have plug-and-play facilities. There won’t be a need to open an office,” Priyank said. 

Another Rs 150 crore will be provided to the Elevate Next programme. “So far, a total of 1,068 startups have received grants under the Elevate programme,” the minister said.

Further, Rs 80 crore will be
given to the Elevate Beyond Bengaluru programme. “We have 30% of startups from Tier-1 and 2 cities. We want to take them to Tier-3.”

While the LEAP is designed as a 5-year programme, Priyank hopes to achieve targets in three years.

“We’re not a product nation. The idea is to become one. We need to groom the ecosystem, provide training, subsidies and incentives. If intends to become a product nation, then that revolution will start from Karnataka,” Priyank said.