Karnataka govt launches Centre for Entrepreneurship in Kalaburagi under its flagship program

Bengaluru, Nov 24 (PTI) Karnataka government on Monday declared the launch of a new Centre for Entrepreneurship in Kalaburagi under its flagship LEAP (Local Economy Accelerator Program).

This is a Rs1000 crore, five-year initiative designed to supercharge regional entrepreneurship, decentralise innovation, and accelerate economic growth across the state’s emerging tech clusters, officials said.

The Centre for Entrepreneurship—being set up in partnership with the KrishiKalpa Foundation—aims to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the Kalyana Karnataka region with a strong focus on agriculture, allied sectors, rural innovation, and emerging technologies, they said in a statement.

The Kalaburagi District Administration has allocated 15,000 sq ft of ready-to-use workspace that will function as the region’s dedicated startup hub, supporting founders, agripreneurs, innovators and ecosystem stakeholders, as part of the program, the statement added.

"The Centre will operate on a framework of Mentorship – Market Access – Money Access, offering structured incubation, acceleration, capacity building, and entrepreneurial development.

A state-of-the-art Prototyping Lab will also be established to enable startups to design, build, and test world-class innovations locally—significantly reducing infrastructure and market-entry barriers," it stated.

Announcing the launch, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Electronics, IT, BT and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said "Kalaburagi represents the immense untapped potential of rural Karnataka—a region where over 70 per cent of the workforce contributes to the agrarian economy. Through LEAP and the new Centre for Entrepreneurship, we are bridging the rural–urban divide by bringing technology, innovation and opportunity directly to our communities".

With Karnataka’s IT-BT sector crossing Rs 1.5 lakh crore and LEAP projected to create five lakh jobs, this Centre of Excellence will energize Kalaburagi’s youth to build sustainable livelihoods through agri-tech, deep-tech and allied-sector innovation, he added.

The Centre for Entrepreneurship in Kalaburagi is scheduled for a formal launch in early January 2026, marking the beginning of strengthened and sustained entrepreneurial activity across the Kalyana Karnataka region, the statement added. PTI AMP ADB