Enhancing Karnataka's Global Competitiveness: CII Unveils Roadmap for Growth

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has unveiled a new road map to enhance Karnataka's competitiveness in the global market. The focus areas include AI-led transformation, sunrise sectors, and capacity building for MSMEs. The CII aims to empower MSMEs through digitization, ESG adoption, and cluster-based support, and strengthen collaborations with academia, startups, government, and global partners to drive investment and foster deep-tech capabilities.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Karnataka has unveiled a new roadmap to bolster the state's competitiveness in the global market. The focus areas include AI-led transformation, sunrise sectors, and capacity building for MSMEs. The initiative aims to empower MSMEs through digitization, ESG adoption, and cluster-based support, while strengthening collaborations with academia, startups, government, and global partners to drive investment and foster deep-tech capabilities.

The roadmap, titled "Accelerating Karnataka’s Competitiveness: Globalisation, Inclusivity, Sustainability, Trust," emphasizes the expansion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) from support hubs to strategic innovation engines across sectors. This shift is expected to catalyze investment, foster deep-tech capabilities, and fast-track industrial transformation. The plan also includes simplifying GST and taxation, easing regulatory compliance, and improving infrastructure and connectivity for balanced industrial development.

Rabindra Srikantan, chairman of CII Karnataka, highlighted the importance of creating a resilient and agile ecosystem that empowers industries to lead in strategic areas like semiconductors, design-led manufacturing, AI-powered production, and clean energy. Guruprasad Mudlapur, vice-chairman of CII, underscored the commitment to accelerating inclusive and future-ready growth by strengthening competitiveness, ease of doing business, and building trust to enable MSMEs across the state.

The roadmap aligns with the broader vision of "Viksit Bharat" and focuses on infrastructure, policy simplification, and technology adoption to drive industrial resilience. By equipping businesses, especially MSMEs in Tier 2 and 3 cities through structured mentoring and skilling platforms, CII aims to create a robust industrial ecosystem that can compete on the global stage.

References:
[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/will-focus-on-ai-led-transformation-sunrise-sectors-msmes-capacity-building-cii/articleshow/121953468.cms
[2] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/cii-lays-road-map-to-enhance-karnatakas-competitiveness-in-global-market/article69714228.ece