Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

is one of the highest economic growth states in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with an expected GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) growth of 9.5% in the 2021–22 fiscal year. The total expected GSDP of Karnataka in 2022–2023 is about $240 billion. Karnataka recorded one of the highest growth rates in terms of GDP and per capita GDP in the last decade compared to other Indian states. In 2008–09, the

tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

sector contributed the most to GSDP (US$31.6 billion─55 percent), followed by the secondary sector ($17 billion─29 percent), and the primary sector (US$9.5 billion─16 percent). With an overall GDP growth of 56.2% and a per capita GDP growth of 43.9% in the last decade, Karnataka surpassed many other states in India, pushing Karnataka's per capita income in Indian Rupee terms to sixth place. Karnataka received US$2,026.4 million worth of

Foreign Direct Investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a company, made by a foreign investor, company, or government from another country. More specifically, it describes a controlling ownership an asset in one country by an entity based i ...

for the fiscal year 2008–09, placing it at the third spot among states in India. At the end of 2004, the unemployment rate of Karnataka was 4.57% compared to a national rate of 5.99%. For the fiscal year 2006–07 the inflation rate of Karnataka was 4.4%, which was less than the national average. Between 2011-12 an
2017-18
the GSDP of the state grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.11 per cent to reach 12.69 trillion (US$196.88 billion) and the net state domestic product (NSDP) grew at a CAGR of 12.83 per cent to reach 11.45 trillion (US$177.68 billion). A

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

in Karnataka begins on 1 April of the previous calendar year and ends on 31 March of the year with which it is numbered. After Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada (Mangaluru) Hubli-Dharwad and

Belagavi Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

districts contribute the highest revenue to the state respectively.

Agriculture and Livestock

Agriculture is the primary occupation of most of Karnataka's rural people. A total of 123,100 km² of land is cultivated in Karnataka, constituting 64.60% of the total geographical area of the state. According to the 2001 census, farmers and agricultural labourers formed 56% of the workforce of Karnataka. Agriculture in Karnataka is heavily dependent on the southwest

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

since the extent of arid land in the state is second only to Rajasthan. Only 26.5% of sown area (30,900 km²) is subjected to

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. The state has three agricultural seasons – Kharif (April to September), Rabi (October to December) and Summer (January to March). Given below is a table of 2015 national output share of select agricultural crops and allied segments in Karnataka based on 2011 prices

Primary Crops grown in Karnataka

The main crops grown are rice, ragi, jowar (sorghum), maize, and pulses (tur and gram) in addition to oilseeds and a number of other cash crops.

Cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...

s, coconut, arecanut,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

, chillies, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco are also produced. Karnataka is the largest producer of coarse cereals, coffee, raw silk and tomatoes among the states in India. Horticultural crops are grown in an area of 16,300 km² and the annual production is about 9.58 million tons. The income generated from horticulture constitutes over 40% of income generated from agriculture and it is about 17% of the state's GDP. In floriculture, Karnataka occupies the second position in India in terms of production and 700 tons of flowers (worth 500 million) were produced in 2004–05. Traditional ploughing - Karnataka

A majority of the thirty-five billion rupee silk industry in India is headquartered in Karnataka State, primarily in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and North Bengaluru regions of Doddaballapura, the site of a planned 700 million "Silk City".

Education

Karnataka has one of the largest concentrations of higher education including medical and engineering colleges. Apart from Bengaluru, places like

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

, Hubli–Dharwad,

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

, Tumakuru and Davanagere have been producing professionals for the Information Technology industry. Muddenahalli, in North Bengaluru, is the site of the upcoming Sri Sathya Sai Baba University and College of Medicine and a branch of the Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology. Devanahalli is set to be the location of a 95 billion Devanahalli Business Parks, which will contain Aerospace Education Special Economic Zones, near the Bengaluru International Airport. The North Bengaluru region is set to be a premier educational hub of Karnataka. There are many prestigious educational and research institutions in

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

such as

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

, National Law School of India University, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, R.V. College of Engineering, PES University, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, REVA University, Indian Institute of Management, International Institution of Information Technology,

Jain University Jain (Deemed-to-be University), is a deemed university based in Bengaluru. In August 2019, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) opened its off campus in Kochi, Kerala. History Jain (Deemed-to-be University) originates from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jai ...

etc. Dharwad in the northern part of the state is another hub for education with several engineering colleges With institutions of national importance like AIIMS,IIT Dharwad, IIIT Dharwad, Dakshina Hindi Prachara Sabha, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and Universities like Karnataka University, University of Agricultural sciences Dharwad, Karnataka State Law University, KLE University, SDM University are present in Dharwad & Hubballi City, hence called Education Hub and a central university is present in Kalaburgi. These developments are set to contribute significantly to Karnataka's economy by creating jobs, expanding educational opportunities, and spurring infrastructure development. Manipal Academy of Higher Education is one of the best universities present in Manipal,

city. With many great and prestigious Institutions

has been the Educational Hub of India.

Industry

Karnataka evolved as the manufacturing hub for some of the largest

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

industries of India after India's independence.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. H ...

, which is dedicated to

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

activities for indigenous

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

for the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

, employs over 9,500 employees making it one of the largest public sector employers in Karnataka. Other heavy industries such as National Aerospace Laboratories, Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Hindustan Machine Tools and Indian subsidiaries of

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

and

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

are also headquartered in Bengaluru. India's national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization, is headquartered in Bengaluru and employs approximately 20,000 people. TVS Motors has a motorcycle manufacturing plant at Mysore and Tata Motors at

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the northwestern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged ...

. Karnataka state has many companies engaged in the manufacturing of electrical equipment and machinery like Kirloskar, ABB Group, Kavika, Larsen and Toubro etc. This may be due to the location of the Central Power Research Institute at Bengaluru. Many multinational companies have set up their manufacturing units in Karnataka such as

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

, and Bosch. The state owns sugar factories in the northern region, edible oil processing factories, pharmaceutical factories, textile processing centers, and steel producing facilities. Vishwesharaiya steel plant at Bhadravati is run by SAIL.

Minerals

Lithium has been discovered in Karnataka's Mandya district which is 100 km from Bengaluru, becoming the Nation's first-ever Lithium reserves so far confirmed at 1,600 tonnes. Gold, iron ore, quartz, limestone, manganese, kyanite and bauxite are some of the minerals that are found in Karnataka. After the closure of the Kolar Gold Fields mine, the only company in India that produces gold by mining and extracting it from the ore is Hutti Gold Mines Limited that has plants at Hutti and

Chitradurga Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka. Chitradurga is a place with historical significance and a major tou ...

in Karnataka. The major mines of manganese and iron ore are located at Sandur in

Bellary district Ballari, formerly Bellary (pronounced ), is a major district in Karnataka. It is located at north-eastern part of Karnataka. This district belongs to Kalyana-Karnataka. This district was one of the biggest districts in Karnataka until the Vi ...

. Visweswaraiah Iron and Steel Ltd. at Bhadravathi and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd. at Toranagallu are engaged in the production of iron and steel. Indian Aluminium Company Ltd. (Hindalco) has an aluminum plant near Belgaum. Mysore Minerals Limited is in the mining and production of chromite industry in

Hassan district Hassan is one of the districts of Karnataka, 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan, Karnataka, Hassan. It was part of ''Manjarabad Faujdari'' between 1832-81 (Mysore Commission, Commissioner's Rule of Mysore). In ...

. Rajashree Cements at Adityanagar, Vasavadatta Cements at Sedam and The Associated Cement Company Ltd. at

Wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

are engaged in the production of cement. Uranium deposits have been found in Deshnur, a small village near Belgaum.

Information and biotechnology

Karnataka is the leader in the information technology sector in India and its capital, Bengaluru, is known as the Silicon Valley of India. In the IT sector, Karnataka generated a total revenue of 516.5 billion in the financial year 2006–07 which included 487 billion from software exports and 29.5 billion from hardware exports. A total of 1973 companies in the state are involved in Information Technology-related business. While the bulk of the IT related companies are located in Bengaluru, some companies are located in Mysore and Mangalore as well. Bengaluru is also the headquarters of Wipro and

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

which are among the top three IT companies in India in regards to

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

. The Nandi Hills area in Devanahalli outskirts is the site of the upcoming $22 Billion, 50 square kilometre BIAL IT Investment Region, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of Karnataka. As of June 2006, Karnataka housed 55% of

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

related companies in India. Bengaluru is also the home of the largest biocluster in India with total revenues of 14 billion and having 158 of the 320 companies working on biotechnology in India. Karnataka has a headcount of over 6,800 scientists involved in biotech research and out of twenty eight biotech companies that were registered in India in the year 2005–06, 27 were located in Karnataka.

Banking

Karnataka, particularly the coastal districts of

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is located in the states and territories of India, state of Karnataka in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangaluru. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east and the ...

and

, is sometimes called the "cradle of banking" in

. This is because seven of the country's leading banks,

Canara Bank Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank based in Bangalore, India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. The bank was nationalized in 1969. Canara Bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York. History Amm ...

Syndicate Bank Syndicate Bank was one of the oldest major commercial banks in India. It was founded by Upendra Ananth Pai, T. M. A. Pai and Vaman Srinivas Kudva. At the time of its establishment, the bank was known as Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate L ...

, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank, Karnataka Bank, Vysya Bank and the State Bank of Mysore originated in this state. The first five in the above list of banks were established in the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. These districts have among the best distribution of banks in India—a branch for every 500 persons. Between 1880 and 1935, twenty two banks were established in coastal Karnataka, nine of them in the city of Mangalore. As of March 2009, Karnataka had 5,759 branches of different banks servicing the people of the state. The number of people served by each branch was 10,000 which was lesser than the national average of 15,000, thereby indicating better penetration of banking in the state.

Infrastructure

Roads

The state is well connected to its six neighboring states and other parts of India through 14 National Highways (NH); it accounts for about six percent of the total NH network in India. Its district centers are linked through 114 State Highways (SH) The total road network of NH, SH, and district roads is about 2,07,379 km, of which 1,27,541 km is surfaced (61.5 percent) Road Type Road length (km) National highways: 4,396 State highways: 28,311 District roads: 19,801

Ports

New Mangalore Port New Mangalore Port or New Mangalore Port Trust(NMPT) is an all-weather port at Panambur, Mangalore in Karnataka state in India. The total land area of the port is approximately . The New Mangalore Port is the deepest inner harbour on the wes ...

(2010–11). Total traffic handled: 67.30 MTA. Total imports handled: 23.6 MTA. Total exports handled: 32.9 MTA. Number of vessels: 1,186 Cruise vessels: 26 Revenue: US$65 million Karwar Port (2007–08) Total cargo handled: 2.7 MTA Total imports and exports: 6 MTA Revenue: US$2.7 million 25 Private liquid cargo tanks: 75,000 MT

Airports

Domestic airports

* Belgaum Airport (Upcoming as International Airport) * Bidar Airport * Gulbarga Airport * Hubballi Airport * Mysore Airport * Shivamogga Airport * Ballari Airport at Toranagallu

International airports

Kempegowda International Airport Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over , it is located about north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by ...

, Devanahalli – formerly Bengaluru International Airport * Mangalore International Airport, Bajpe

Railways

Karnataka has a railway network of 3,836 km.

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

covers almost the whole of Karnataka and its headquarter is in

Hubballi Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of Ka ...

. SSS Hubballi Junction's Platform 1 holds the guinness world record for being the longest railway platform.

is divided into three divisions: * Hubballi Railway Division * Bengaluru Railway Division * Mysore Railway Division There are two Railway Heritage Museums in Karnataka: * Railway Museum, Mysore * Hubballi Railway Heritage Museum Urban transport Metro rail and suburban-rail projects are underway in Bengaluru. The first phase of the Namma Metro is complete and covers a total of 76.95 km. Second phase is under construction.

Ongoing projects

Hassan–Sakhleshpura–Mangalore line gauge conversion is completed. Both freight and passenger trains run on this route on a daily basis connecting the seaport city of Mangaluru to the state capital of Bengaluru and Mysuru. Key connectivity projects, doubling of Mysore–Bengaluru railway line, Gadag–Bagalkot, Bengaluru–Hassan to be taken up in the near future.

Power

Generation: Karnataka Power Corporation Limited and IPPs (GMR/Jindal/ Bhoruka) KPCL has an installed capacity of over 9315 MW. Number of consumers: 16.3 million Independent power producers have installed capacity of 2,005 MW. * KPCL -Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. * IPPs is Independent Power Producers Transmission: Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited ( KPTCL). Area covered: 192,000 km² Sub stations: 1,205 Transmission lines: 28,000 km, 33 kV, 130,000 km of 11 kV. LT lines: 451855 km Distribution transformers: 1,50,000 Physical infrastructure – power Distribution / supply: Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs) Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) Mangalore Electricity Supply Company ( MESCOM) Hubli Electricity Supply Company
HESCOM
Gulbarga Electric Supply Company (GESCOM) Chamundeshwari Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) Source: Power sector at a glance as in July 2009‖, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited website, accessed 23 September 2009.

Telecommunications

Leading telecom companies in the sectors of telecommunication network, basic telephony services (both wire line and wireless) and networking services for telecommunication equipment are operating in the state. The entire State is networked via Optic FibreCables (OFC) by the state-run BSNL (formerly DOT) as well as private companies like Bharti, Reliance, Tata Communications and Tata Teleservices. Last Mile Access is provided by BSNL as well as TATA Tele Services in various parts of the state. Bharti and Reliance Communications provide the Last Mile Access directly to the customer in all major cities in Karnataka. Telecom service providers in Karnataka: BSNL,

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Telecommunications in India, telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. ...

, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea Key statistics (2007–08) Cellular subscribers: about 10 million Internet/broadband Subscribers: about 0.8 million Telecom towers: about 14,000 Post offices: 9,826 Telephone connections provided: 2,610 Telephone exchanges: 2,727

Industrial infrastructure

Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation (KSIIDC) are jointly responsible for the development of industrial infrastructure in the state. Directorate of Commerce and Industries has set up a district and

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

industrial centres across the state to facilitate investment The Government of Karnataka is promoting the development of several SEZs across Karnataka such as pharma and biotech SEZ, food processing and agro-based industries and textiles SEZ at Hassan and IT and Coastal SEZs at Mangalore. Key industrial clusters IT/ITES cluster in electronic city and Whitefield (Bengaluru). Food Parks – 4 old State sponsored and 2 new MoFPI sponsored Food Parks in 6 Districts of Karnataka Biotech park/cluster in electronic city, Bengaluru. Integrated Food Parks in Hiriyur, Bagalkote, Jewargi & Malur for pay-n-use common facilities & MSME Food Processing Manufacturers Machine tool cluster at Peenyaindustrial estate Textile cluster at Doddaballapur Foundry cluster at Belgaum Industrial valve cluster at Hubli–Dharwad Coir clusters at Hassan. Handicrafts cluster at Channapatna. Coffee production and processing cluster in Madekeri SEZs in Karnataka Notified: 27 Formal approvals: 52 In-principle approvals: 9 Source: StatewiseSEZs in India, www.sezindia.nic.in. accessed 23 September 2009

Water supply

The water supply is provided by the local authorities like municipalities and panchayats. The first hydroelectric plant in the state was built at Shivanasamudra Falls on the Kaveri River in 1902.

Electrical supply

Karnataka has an installed capacity of 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, of which 12 GW comes from renewable energy sources. The state is India's top producer of solar energy, with an installed capacity of 5.16 GW. Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) is the sole provider of electricity for the state. The Linganamakki reservoir will supply around 35 percent of power to the state. Electric power from KPTCL is distributed through distribution companies like Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), Mangalore Electricity Supply Company ( MESCOM), Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM), Hubli Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) and Chamundesvary Electricity Supply Company (CESCOM) for different parts of the state. A good number of windmills were present. The Raichur Thermal Power Station and Bellary Thermal Power station Near Bellary (Kuduthini). Karnataka is also the location of companies like SELCO (India), which is promoting the use of solar electricity among the rural areas of the state and is also a twice winner of the Ashden Awards.