Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar hoisted the national flag at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bengaluru on the 80th Independence Day, announcing a series of employment and industrial initiatives aimed at making Karnataka a $3 trillion economy by 2047.
Under a newly launched Chief Minister's Jobs Mission, recruitment notifications for 72,000 vacant posts across government departments are to be issued within the next six months. A second scheme, Udyoga Nidhi, will give businesses an incentive of Rs 2,500 per month for every job created, for two years, with a focus on the state's ten most backward districts.
The Chief Minister also said his government is working to establish India's first government-owned artificial intelligence university, in Bengaluru. Alongside it, the AI Akshara Abhiyana and Coding Gurukul initiatives are to bring AI and coding into the school curriculum from Class VI onwards.
"The chariot of the state's development cannot be pulled by just two hands. The hands of the entire Kannada community must join me," he told the gathering, setting out the vision under the motto 'Yuva Karnataka, Nava Bharat'.
On the state's finances, he said per capita income now stands at Rs 4.33 lakh and that Karnataka ranks second nationally in both GST and income-tax collections. He cited Rs 1,300 crore in crop insurance compensation paid to 12.35 lakh farmers, a 117-km Bengaluru Business Corridor ring road estimated at Rs 26,000 crore, and 112 water projects worth Rs 16,000 crore. For 2026-27, Rs 44,631 crore has been allocated to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe welfare.
