Karnataka to get nation's first R&D policy soon

The state government is set to become the first state in the country to have an exclusive Research and Development (R&D) Policy.

The policy envisages allocating at least 0.1 per cent of its Gross State Domestic Product towards R&D and innovation.

Other measures suggested for the policy include allocating a certain percentage of budget allocated to various departments for the research, according to a presentation made to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, during a review of the upcoming policy.

Bommai, who chaired a meeting with the Task Force headed by Prof Ashok Shettar, vice chancellor of KLE Technological University and senior officials regarding formulation of the new policy, instructed the officials to prepare the necessary systems for effective implementation of the proposed policy.

Bommai suggested setting up a state level R&D Council and Foundation as a supplementary initiative for the implementation of the proposed policy. The policy would be cleared after discussing it in the state Cabinet, he said.