The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Karnataka has unveiled its roadmap for 2025–26 aimed at enhancing the state’s global competitiveness, guided by the theme “Accelerating Karnataka’s Competitiveness: Globalisation, Inclusivity, Sustainability, Trust.”
The agenda emphasises AI-led transformation, development of sunrise sectors, and capacity building for MSMEs. It also includes targeted efforts to strengthen northern Karnataka, with a focus on cities such as Dharwad, Belagavi, and Kalaburagi, etc.
The announcement was made at a press briefing held by the elected leaders for CII Karnataka for 2025-26, Rabindra Srikantan, Vice Chairman of CII Karnataka, and Founder and Managing Director of ASM Technologies Ltd., and Guruprasad Mudlapur, President, Bosch Group in India, and Managing Director Bosch Limited.
CII Karnataka is actively driving policy advocacy focused on enhancing the ease of doing business and fostering competitive and sustainable industry ecosystems in the state. Priorities include simplifying GST and taxation, easing regulatory compliance to strengthen the ease of doing business, and improving infrastructure and connectivity for balanced industrial development.
CII also continues to advocate for sector-specific policies and sustained government engagement to address industry challenges and enable growth and is collaborating with government, academia, startups, and global partners to drive investment, boost deep-tech innovation, and accelerate industrial transformation—positioning the state as a leader in emerging technologies and a model for inclusive, sustainable growth.
CII Karnataka’s agenda for 2025–26, built around the theme “Inclusive Growth through Innovation and Sustainability,” outlines initiatives aimed at supporting MSMEs through digitisation, ESG integration, and cluster-based development. The plan identifies focus areas such as semiconductors, aerospace, electric mobility, energy transition, and alternative fuels, alongside efforts in Industry 4.0 skilling and improving the ease of doing business.
The agenda also highlights collaboration between industry, academia, startups, and government to promote inclusive leadership and cross-sector impact. As part of its broader vision aligned with the Viksit Bharat initiative, the CII Centre of Employment and Livelihood has launched grassroots entrepreneurship workshops in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. In the first phase, over 250 micro and small entrepreneurs were trained in business and financial skills across five districts.
Srikantan said, “As we move towards Viksit Bharat@2047, Karnataka has a unique opportunity to shape India’s industrial future through innovation, technology leadership, and sustainability. Our focus is to create a resilient and agile ecosystem that empowers industries to lead in strategic areas like semiconductors, design-led manufacturing, AI-powered production, and clean energy. A key pillar of this journey is the expansion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), which are rapidly evolving from support hubs to strategic innovation engines across sectors.”
