Economy of Karnataka

Karnataka has become the hub of IT industry with its growing presence in the city of Bangalore. With one of the highest economic growth rates among all states, Karnataka has been a constant contributor to the progress of the country. The major contributors to the Karnataka economy are agriculture, mining, IT and tourism. It also has a number of small scale and cottage industries. Karnataka recorded the highest growth rate in terms of GDP and per capita GDP in the last decade compared to other states. Here you can read all about the economy of the state of Karnataka.

Agriculture
Agriculture is an important part of economy of Karnataka. In Karnataka there are three agricultural seasons i.e. Kharif from April to September, Rabi from October to December and summer from January to March. 71% of workforce in Karnataka is farmers and agricultural labourers and the agriculture of Karnataka is highly dependent on monsoon. Some of the important crops are rice, jowar, maize, pulses, oilseeds, cashew nuts, coconut, areca nut, cardamom, chillies, cotton, sugarcane, coffee, tobacco, etc. Karnataka's coffee production is the highest among all the states. It is also the biggest producer of raw silk and coarse cereals. And thus agriculture is an important part of the economy of Karnataka. A majority of the rural population has agriculture as their occupation. In terms of floriculture the state holds the second position in flower production and produces about 700 tons of flowers.

Information Technology
Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, has the highest number of IT industries. Bangalore was the first city in India to get a satellite earth station to facilitate high speed communication services to facilitate software exports in 1992. It also houses the country's very first 'extended facility' of the international gateway and network operations center at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in the Electronics City. Many MNC's have set up business operations in Karnataka, such as, HP, IBM, Intel, AMD, Cisco, Kyocera, Oracle etc. Apart from Bangalore there are several infrastructural facilities in Mysore, Hubli, Manipal and Mangalore where MNC's have set up company offices.

Industry
Industries form the backbone of Karnataka's economy. Some of the major Public Sector Undertakings, such as, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bharat Electronics Limited, Hindustan Machine Tools are based in Karnataka. Indian subsidiaries of Volvo and Toyota headquartered in Bangalore. The state also excels in Biotechnology with 158 of the country's 320 biotechnology firms based here. The country's biggest silk industry is headquartered in Karnataka in Doddaballapura, and there has been a talk about establishing a "Silk City" at Muddenahalli, near Bangalore International Airport.

Mineral Wealth
Mining in Karnataka is one of the major industries of the state dating back to ancient times when Gold was discovered in the Harappan civilization. Karnataka is abundant in mineral wealth like gold, iron ore, quartz, limestone, manganese, kyanite and bauxite. Karnataka is also famous for Gold at Kolar Gold Fields mines. Other gold mines are situated at Hutti Gold Mines Limited with plants at Hutti and Chitradurga. Therea re stes where manganese mines and iron ore are found like in Sandur in Bellary. Balidala, Donimalai and Panna are major centers of iron ore mining. One of the most famous plants is the Visweswaraiah Iron and Steel Ltd. at Bhadravathi and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd. at Toranagal.

Karnataka's state government has set up many agencies and centers that help in the progress and development of the state as well as the country. And once you experience this vast land of opportunities will you able to be completely spellbound with its culture and traditions. The warmth of the people of Karnataka has contributed largely in welcoming the foreign companies wholeheartedly to set up corporate offices. Metro rail project is underway in Bangalore which has opened up more development opportunities in the state. To adapt to modern telecommunication technologies, the state is networked via Optic Fibre Cables (OFC). And in this, the citizens and the government work jointly, sharing responsibility for the development of industrial infrastructure in the state.