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The Government is making sustained efforts to improve the infrastructure in
the state. Karnataka's investment in infrastructure at US$ 15.73 billion is the
highest among all states in the country and the state has invited private
investment in various sectors to ensure the availability of ready-to-use
facilities for the industry.
Social infrastructure
Education
The literacy rate in the state stood at 67 per cent in 2003-04. Karnataka is known for its technology and R&D based institutions. It is estimated that 10 per cent of graduates in India are from Karnataka.
The state has actively encouraged private participation in this sector. It
has 134 engineering colleges and 133 medical colleges, a majority of which
belong to the private sector.
Source: Economic Survey of Karnataka
Health
The health infrastructure in the state has progressed over the years and has
helped improve the well-being of the people. The life expectancy in Karnataka is
66 years, well above the national average of 62 years.
Access infrastructure
Karnataka has 154,208 km of roads of which 65 per cent are surfaced. It has
3,728 km of national highways. The rail network in the state is spread over 3,192
km. In December 2004, around 227 road projects entailing a total investment of
US$ 2,610 million were under various stages of implementation. The US$ 478.7
million Bangalore-Mysore Corridor Expressway is the largest on-going project in
this sector. The state also intends to set up a metro rail project in Bangalore
at a cost of US$ 844.7 million.
The state has an international airport at Bangalore and domestic airports at
Belgaum, Mangalore and Hubli.
The state's port infrastructure includes a network of 10
ports including the New Mangalore port, which is an all-weather seaport that can
handle cargo vessels.
The Sea Bird project of the Indian Navy near Karwar has special facilities
for exporting iron ore and handling crude, coal, LPG and other products.
Industrial infrastructure
Karnataka is an exports hub. It has 270 exporting units and another 65 are in
the pipeline. Twenty per cent of total exports from export-oriented units (EOU)
in India come from Karnataka. To encourage exports and offer industry appropriate
incentives and infrastructure, the state has also approved Special Economic
Zones (SEZs) at Hassan, Bangalore and the coastal zone.
Some of the other proposed industrial parks in the state include:
of US$41.5 million
An apparel park at Doddaballapura in Bangalore rural with an investment of US$ 6.9 million
A state-of-the-art international technology park
with 1.5 million sq ft built up art.
Six new private technology parks with a built up area of
6 million sq ft
An electronic city at Bangalore and Mysore
STPs at Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore with high speed data communications
facilities
A telecom knowledge SEZ with an investment
of US$9.1 million
The IT-corridor Project and the Bio-corridor
project, both of which are coming up in Bangalore
Communications infrastructure
The state has a strong communications network and the second highest number
of Internet subscribers in the country.
Individual
satellite connectivity has been provided to more than 1,050 IT companies.
These
have an international bandwidth of 370 Mbps
Last mile access is provided directly to
customers in all major cities. The state is connected to all major submarine
cables including the i2i submarine cable, which has a 8.6-terra byte capacity
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