Bangalore, July 5: The Karnataka government has decided to apply its infotech mantra to smaller cities to replicate the job and growth boom in its capital.

The policy to encourage the sunrise industry in smaller cities was announced today by M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda, the secretary for infotech and biotechnology. Two cities in north Karnataka — Belgaum and Gulbarga — will have IT parks, called Software Technology Parks of India or STPI, like Bangalore.

“We have submitted the proposals to the government for approval. We want the IT industry to expand its presence in other parts of the state for tapping the huge employment potential and avoid being Bangalore-centric,” Gowda said.

The state government will be a partner in the STPI project. Its contribution will be in the form of a one-time grant of Rs 1 crore and land required for the new tech parks. The state will also provide infrastructure such as power, roads and transportation in these cities, Gowda added.

With state-of-the-art facilities and satellite connectivity, the STPI set-ups in Belgaum and Gulbarga will encourage start-up IT firms, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment, said B.V. Naidu, the director of the STPI in Bangalore.

Gowda said, to popularise infotech and extend its benefits at the district level, the IT department will also organise a Student Internet World in all the 27 district headquarters. This will be part of the BangaloreIT.Com, an IT event from November 1 to 5.

“Unlike in the past, we will be setting up Internet facilities with 50 to 100 PCs and bandwidth connectivity at every district headquarters to attract 100,000 students from schools to access the world wide web and generate awareness in semi-urban and rural areas,” the secretary said.

With Bangalore having emerged as a global outsourcing and IT destination, the state infotech department and the software park will now focus on the strengths of the industry to attract investments and skills in the secondary and tertiary cities.

“As Asia’s largest ICT event, the five-day seventh edition of the BangaloreIT.Com will be an ideal platform to focus on hardware, telecom, media and BPO domains…” Naidu said. “With Bangalore emerging as a global brand to attract large foreign investments in the IT and BPO sectors, the event will focus on industry-specific areas.”