Economy of Karnataka

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Contents 1 Macro-economic trend 2 Agriculture 3 Minerals and Industry 4 Technology and Services 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Macro-economic trend

[edit] Agriculture

Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee, raw silk and sandalwood based products like perfumes and 75% of Indian floriculture industry is located in Karnataka. Karnataka accounts for 59% of the country’s coffee production and 47% of the country’s ragi production About 70% of the people live in the villages and 71% of the total work force is engaged in agriculture. The main crops are rice, ragi, jowar, maize, and pulses besides oilseeds and number of cash crops. Cashew, coconut, arecanut, cardamom, chilies, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco are among the other crops produced in the state. The lower slopes of the western ghats in Kodagu District, Chikmagalur District and Hassan District produce coffee. Sandalwood comes from the dense forested areas of southern Karnataka. These areas were origianlly the haunt of forest brigand Veerappan and the state has suffered significant losses due to sandalwood smuggling. Mysore District is the primary producer of raw silk in India and the world famous Mysore silk saris which are manufactured at the Mysore silk factories. Water rich areas of Mandya District, Shimoga District, Dakshina Kannada districts produce most of the sugarcane though cultivation of this crop is wide spread. Ragi is grown in Tumkur and Kolar and around Bangalore districts. Jute, Jowar, Bajra, and pulses (Tur and gram) and oil seeds are largely grown in the drier areas of northern and north-central Karnataka. Maize is grown only in the northern tip of the state in Bidar District. Coconut and Arecanut is grown in the southern districts. Cotton is grown in abundance in Gulbarga District and Davangere District is a center of cotton trade and industry. The salubrious weather conditions in coastal areas make cultivation of fruit orchards possible. Rice is grown mostly in the coastal districts. The state holds the fifth rank in national level in oilseed production. Karnataka accounted for nearly Rs. 2000 crores of horticultural products in 2005.

[edit] Minerals and Industry

Over 90% of India's gold production comes from south Karnataka. Recently there has been a lot of activity in the extraction of manganese ore from the districts of Bellary and Hospet. Raichur is known to be rich in gold deposits. Most of India's Iron ore comes from the Kudremukh area of Chikmagalur District. Over 5% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Karnataka.

See also: List of conglomerates in Karnataka

[edit] Technology and Services

Karnataka is one of the most industrialised states in India. Its capital, Bangalore has become a major worldwide hub of the Information Technology industry and is the IT capital of India producing approximately 38% of India's software exports which amounts to about $9 billion in 2006. The other IT hub in Karnataka is Mangalore , which boasts of not only a historically advanced education standard but also a growing list of Global players in the IT sector. Several companies flourish in mangalore including Infosys.In 2001 it was rated "Best Employer in India" by Business Today, and in 2002 Business World named Infosys "India's Most Respected Company".

In the mid 1970s R.K. Baliga, Chairman and Managing Director of Keonics planned to make Bangalore the alternative Silicon Valley. Bangalore is dubbed as the Silicon Valley of India with more than 50% of all software companies based here. There are about 1,700 companies in all. The software industry is expected to generate US $20 billion by 2010. The Hardware industry is also growing at the same rate as the software industry and presently produces about US $500 million in exports. Karnataka has 50% (131 companies) of all Biotechnology companies in India and Bangalore accounts for approximately 47% (127 companies) of the total. It generates about 50% of India's total revenues in the sector which is about US $500 million. Recently, the Karnataka government created the first Biotechnology park in India. All three sectors are growing at an average of 35% per year. Also, Bangalore is one of the fast growing cities in the world with more than 6 million people. The IT industry is spreading to other major centres in Karnataka, namely: Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli.

[edit] References

[edit] See also