RUNNING WITHOUT A RUNWAY

Belagavi's Rs 600-crore tech sector is growing but struggles to reach its full potential due to poor policy support, lack of city-based infrastructure and stalled ecosystembuilding efforts under Karnataka's "Beyond Bengaluru❞ vision

- By Rohit Chintapali

On paper, Belagavi is one of Karnataka's most promising Tier-2 tech hubs.

Its technology ecosystem clocks well over Rs 600 crore in annual revenue, exports to over 20 countries and is growing at 55 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Each year, it absorbs hundreds of engineers into high-value jobs, offering companies a talent-rich, costeffective alternative to Bengaluru's congestion and skyrocketing real estate prices.

But ask the people building IT companies here and they will tell you: the government's vision for "Beyond Bengaluru" hasn't fully landed in Belagavi.

Belagavi (formerly Belgaum) in Karnataka is a major industrial hub, renowned for its strong foundry and hydraulics sector that supplies high-quality castings and precisionmachined components to the automotive, aerospace and heavy engineering industries. Yet, despite its manufacturing strength, the city's technology sector has struggled to gain momentum. The reason? Absence of strong policy support and ecosystem enablers, according to startups and IT companies in the city.

A Tech Park Too Far