Karnataka emerging as a vibrant manufacturing hub in the country

ADVANTAGE KARNATAKA

Karnataka emerging as a vibrant manufacturing hub in the country

Karnataka is emerging as a vibrant manufacturing hub in the country. To increase the GSDP, the Karnataka Government is introducing new initiatives to bolster the manufacturing sector and increase the share of exports from the State.

The EXCON demonstrated the manufacturing potential of the State with the large presence of OEMs and components industries participating in the South Asia’s’ largest construction equipment trade Fair at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru, recently.

Delivering his inaugural address at the 11th edition of EXCON, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the infrastructure sector is receiving an intense push from the Government, propelling India’s overall development and GDP.

The new policies announced by the Government of India would ensure the time-bound creation of world-class infrastructure in the country, making it India’s new identity globally, Chief Minister said.

He said that the construction sector will have a major contribution to Prime Minister's vision to make India a USD five trillion economy. To achieve this goal, the government is embarking on major infrastructure and industrial projects worth Rs 100 lakh crore. “Though our major focus should be growing exponentially in the country by advancing our technologies, inclusion of people at the bottom of the pyramid is also critical since they are the movers of the economy. We urge the industries to collaborate with them to further enable the CE sector,” the Chief Minister said.

Bommai mentioned that the State presents huge business opportunities for the construction industry, as it is embarking on major infrastructure development projects in roads & flyovers, industrial infrastructure and power.

Meanwhile, inaugurating ‘NIRMAANA 2022’ , a two-day international conference on Tunneling & Underground Construction organised by INSTRUCT – Institute for Research Development and Training of Construction Trades And Management, a professional registered body of Engineers & Architects headquartered at Bengaluru, the Chief Minister said Karnataka is recognised for its tunneling and underground construction from ancient times. "We have lots of underground tunnels and structures which stand as a testimony even today, people during those days have built it without modern technology for their requirement but with the pace in which our cities are growing and with advent of new technology we are facing many challenges everyday and me being an engineer I thoroughly understand the difficulties and challenges in such constructions”, Bommai said.

He emphasised the importance of underground construction as most of the activities are taking underground routes, be at metros, fuel, gas, service and other utilities gaining the importance of underground mobility in India. "Karnataka has been a pioneer and will remain so as we have many mega projects lined up, we have the required expertise and manpower to make us world leaders", the Chief Minister added.

Record turnover for BEML in 2021-22

BEML Ltd has achieved its highestever turnover of Rs 4,143 crore during financial year 2021-22, against the previous year’s Rs 3,557 crore.

According to a statement of the company’s standalone and consolidated audited results for 2021-22 released by Chairman and Managing Director Amit Banerjee, BEML also recorded the highest-ever value of production of Rs 3,993 crore during the financial year. The figure for the previous financial year was Rs 3,556 crore, the CMD added.

“This was achieved despite challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and resultant supply chain disruptions,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the profit before tax of the company having its registered office at Bengaluru has grown to Rs 206 crore in 2021-22 from Rs 93 crore in 202021 and profit after tax stands at Rs 135 crore in 2021-22 against Rs 75 crore in 2020-21.

The CMD also revealed that the company’s order book as on March 31, 2022 stood at Rs 9,192 crore. During 2021-22, BEML exported products to a new country, Madagascar, adding to its list of exports to 68 countries.

Major milestones achieved during 202122 include successful commissioning of 190 T electric dump trucks at NCL Singrauli, supply of 81 numbers of medical oxygen plants by standing with the nation to tide over the COVID- 19 pandemic and flagging off MRS 1 Driverless Metro Cars for Mumbai Metro.

Karnataka Making Mangalore as a FinTech Hub is becoming reality

Continuing with its mission to contribute to India’s $1trillion digital economy with a robust innovation and start-up ecosystem, the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) welcomed Illumifin’s (Illumifin India LLP - Fintech Startup) new office in Mangalore. They are a fintech-based company supplementing KDEM’s objective of making the Mangalore cluster a fintech focus hub.

The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) has set up a fintech task force led by Harshil Mathur, the founder, and CEO of fintech unicorn start-up Razorpay. The task group works toward creating a roadmap for the growth of the industry, identifying the opportunities and challenges faced by the fintech ecosystem in the state, leverages the partnering institutions and government to solve them and attract more fintech companies. In this direction, Illumifin’s new office at Mangalore is KDEM’s prowess in intensifying its drive to build a robust Fintech ecosystem in the region while spotlighting skill development, employment generation, and overall development across Karnataka.

The BFSI and FinTech sector is a booming industry, and the engineering and management graduates can benefit from the immense opportunities it offers to the digitization of this sector. KDEM is very happy with the triparty agreement signed by Illumfin in this regard and thus thase initiatives are aimed to bring about a necessary change in the outlook of promoting niche departments at the grassroots level in cities beyond Bengaluru for the right social and economic impact to make its mark.

The Beyond Bengaluru program of KDEM is spearheading the mission of proliferating the growth of the digital economy in clusters beyond Bangalore by identifying potential clusters in the state. The program aims at building a community of key industry players, entrepreneurs, start-up owners, academia, accelerators, and the student community, the Beyond Bengaluru program of KDEM is steering towards getting investments and generating employment in the state. The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) has recognized the growth potential of the FinTech industry, and this MoU with FinTech Industry has enabled many such companies to get a foothold in this region.

Speaking on this development, Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, KDEM said - “Karnataka Digital Economy Mission is delighted to welcome Illumifin its Mangaluru cluster, under the Beyond Bengaluru initiative. The ecosystem of the Mangaluru cluster is dynamic and vibrant with innovation and rich entrepreneurship culture. Together with our ecosystem partners like Sahyadri, we are spearheading the objective of attracting 500+ IT companies and creating 30,000 jobs by 2026. We aim at leveraging the competitive advantage of Mangaluru being a cradle of banking & financial institutions and making it a hub of Fin-Techbased operations. We welcome Illumifin to start its operations from Mangaluru and accelerate its development journey from #Beyond Bengaluru.”

Commenting on this partnership, Chairman, Sahyadri institution, Mangalore said – “This partnership between the industry and the academia is a critical milestone for India’s fintech ecosystem. As KDEM cements Karnataka’s place as a global fintech hub, it gives me immense pleasure to be a part of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission’s journey to unlock new areas of innovation and growth. With KDEM’s reach and our expertise, we are very hopeful of enabling an enriching platform to the ascending start-up environment of Karnataka. “

The synergy between KDEM, academic institution and industry is a step towards harbouring a Fintech ecosystem at the grassroots level

Rapido launches Captain Welfare Fund to uplift its Captains and dependents

Rapido, India’s largest bike taxi platform, announced the launch of Captain Welfare Fund, to uplift its driver-partners, Captains. The first-of-its-kind welfare programme has been launched to assist the Captains economically, beyond salaries and incentives. As part of the Fund, Rapido contributes a certain fixed amount from its end along with a part of the commission received by Rapido for every ride completed by the Captains, towards the benefit of the Captains and their families.

The first three recipients of this fund were Harish B. and Arumugam E. for Children Education and Kallesha Naik, for Medical Treatment. In its very first event to honor the Captains, Rapido organized a fun event in Bangalore for the Captains and their families. The City Manager rewarded the shortlisted Captains with the Welfare Fund cheque. The event also witnessed the families spend quality time at the function which concluded with a scrumptious lunch.