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Area : 1,91,791 sq km
Population : 52,850,562
Capital : Bangalore
Principal Languages : Kannada
Karnataka
has a recorded history of more than 2,000 years.
Apart from its subjection to the rule of Nandas,
Mauryas and the Satavahanas, Karnataka came to
have indigenous dynasties like the Kadambas of
Banavasi and the Gangas from the middle of the
4th century AD. The world renowned Gomateshwara
monolith at Sharavanabelagola was
installed by a Ganga minister Chavundaraya. The
Chalukyas of Badami (500-735 AD) ruled over a
wider area, from the Narmada to the Kaveri from
the days of Pulikeshi II (609-642 AD), who even
defeated Harshavardhana of Kannauj. This dynasty
created fine monuments at Badami, Aihole and
Pattadakal, both structural and rock-cut. Aihole
has been one of the cradles of temple
architecture in the country. The Rashtrakutas
(753-973 AD) of Malkhed, who succeeded them,
levied tribute on the rulers of Kannauj
successively in the so-called ‘Age of Imperial
Kannauj'. Kannada literature developed during
this period. Outstanding Jain scholars of India
lived in their court. The Chalukyas of Kalyana
(973 to 1189 AD) and their feudatories, the
Hoysalas of Halebidu built fine temples,
encouraged literature and fine arts. Noted
jurist Vijnaneshwara (work: Mitakshara ) lived
at Kalyana. Great religious leader Basaveshwara
was a minister at Kalyana. Vijayanagar Empire
(1336-1646) fostered indigenous traditions and
encouraged arts, religion and literature in
Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. Overseas
trade also flourished during their rule. The
Bahamani Sultans (Capital: Gulbarga, later Bidar)
and the Bijapur
Adilshahis raised fine Indo-Saracenic
buildings and encouraged Urdu and Persian
literature. Advent of the Portuguese resulted in
the introduction of new crops (tobacco, maize,
chillies, groundnut, potato, etc.). After the
fall of the Peshwa (1818) and Tipu (1799),
Karnataka came under the British control.
Christian missionaries introduced English
education and printing during the 19th century.
Revolution in transport, communication and
industries was evident, making way for the
emergence of the urban middle-class. Mysore
dynasty helped industrialisation and cultural
growth. Freedom Movement was followed by the
movement for the unification of Karnataka. After
Indian independence, the new united Mysore State
was created in 1956, and was renamed Karnataka
in 1973.
Karnataka lies to the south of Goa and
Maharashtra, to the west of Andhra Pradesh, to
the north-west of Tamil Nadu and to the north of
Kerala. It has a sea-coast of nearly 400 km (300
km with inundations).
Agriculture and allied activities account for
nearly 56 per cent of the workforce in Karnataka
State. Out of the geographical area of
1,90,49,836 hectares, 1,21,08,667 hectares area
is accounted as “Agricultural Holdings” and
nearly 62,21,000 farm families operate the same.
Major food crops are paddy, jowar, ragi, maize,
bajra, wheat, pulses, groundnut, sunflower,
cotton, sugarcane and tobacco. The State
contributes about 5.59 per cent in national
foodgrains production.
Karnataka enjoys a prominent position on the
horticultural map of India. The State is blessed
with natural resources, favourable agro-climatic
conditions and enterprising farming community,
which offer scope for an all-round development
of horticulture. It is the first state to
establish a large scale Biotechnology Centre
under public sector to cater to the needs of
farmers of the state with an objective to
produce quality-plant materials and conserve the
genetic diversity of horticulture plants.
Horticulture covers an area of 15.81 lakh
hectares in the State. The horticultural policy
focuses on area expansion, dissemination of new
technology and production and supply
productivity of planting materials.
Karnatka has the basins of the Krishna, Cauvery,
Godavari, North Pennar, South Pennar, Palar and
the west flowing river basins as well with a
drainage area of 1,90,500 sq km. The averge
annual yield of the rivers has been estimated as
97,352 m.cum. The ultimate irrigation potential
of the State from all sources has been estimated
at about 61 lakh hectares consisting of 35 lakh
hectares under major and medium irrigation, 10
lakh hectares under minor irrigation (surface)
projects and 16 lakh hectares under groundwater
resources.
The Karnataka Electricity Reform Act was enacted
in 1999. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory
Commission (KERC) has been functioning since
December 1999 and the erstwhile Karnataka
Electricity Board was corporatised under the
banner KPTCL. The KPTCL was further unbundled
into the Transmission Company (KPTCL) and four
Distribution companies, namely, BESCOM, MESCOM,
HESCOM and GESCOM. These four were catering to
about 12.50 million consumers.
The total installed generation capacity of the
State is 5,836 MW. In the next 3 to 4 years, it
is planned to add about 2,400 MW of additional
generation capacity mainly from the following
power projects: (i) Almatti Hydel Project: 290
MW: (ii) RTPS 8th unit 210 MW; (iii) Bellary
Thermal Power Project 500 MW; and (iv) Bidadi
Combined Cycle Project 1,400 MW.
The State has achieved 100 per cent in village
electrification. Now the main thrust is on
electrification of hamlets. More emphasis is
being given for reduction of commercial losses.
The State has been a pioneer in industry and
also had the distinction of building a strong
and vibrant industrial base, which combined the
strengths of a large public sector, privately
owned large and medium industries and a very
wide and dispersed small-scale sector. Good
labour relations have helped the state achieve
pre-eminence on the industrial map. In more
recent times, Karnataka has emerged as the
knowledge and technical capital of the country.
The thick concentration of I.T related
industries, bio-technology, BPOs and IPOs
combined with strong research and development
institutions and a large pool of qualified
trained manpower have ensured that the state is
now leading global player. The Government has
been consistently pursuing progressive
industrial policies to meet the changing needs
of the State’s economy and industry.
Karnataka is one among the most preferred
destinations for foreign investments in India
and houses 65 of world fortune 500 companies.
The State Government has evolved a new
Industrial Policy for the Textile Industry. The
State is home for every sector of industry such
as, Information Technology, Bio-technology,
Electronics, Telecom, Aerospace, Processed
Foods, Apparel, Automobiles, Banking and
Finance, Mining, Steel, Cement and much more.
The State is having small, large and medium
scale industries providing
employment to a large number of people in the
State.
The State contributes 70 per cent of India’s
coffee and silk, 20 per cent electronic hardware
and 35 per cent of software for exports and is a
major producer of spices, flowers, fruits and
vegetables.
Karnataka has a progressive industrial policy in
place that actively supports public-private
partnership. Sector specific policies, viz., I.T.
Policy, B.T. Policy, B.P.O. Policy, Tourism
Policy, Agro Food Processing Policy and Export
Promotion Policy are in place for focused
backing. The State has simplified Labour Law,
Land Reforms Act, and the Karnataka Industries
(Facilitation) Act 2002 is under enactment to
ease doing business in the State and wherein
deemed approval clause is incorporated.
Karnataka is endowed with rich mineral deposits.
All minerals except hydrocarbons are available
in the State. Important minerals are gold iron
ore, copper, manganese, chromite, limestone,
clay, kaonite, silica sand, moulding sand,
felsite, quartzite and ornamental granites, etc.
The State is getting about Rs 170 crore as
royalty on minerals produced in the State.
Karnataka – the Silicon State is the most
favoured destination for IT and other knowledge
based industries. The State has the most
investor friendly policy. The State has taken
major initiatives in the e-governance area. It
has computerised all treasuries. It is
programmed to implement the delivery of caste
and income certificate, birth and Death
certificate, old age pensions, domicile
certificate, etc., under the Rural Digital
Services (RDS) project.
Besides computerising government offices latest
information to the farmers regarding techniques
of crop production, Horticulture, Animal
Husbandry, Fishery, Sericulture and Diary
farming has also been computerised.
Roads : There are 13 National Highways in
Karnataka State. The total length is 3,967 km.
Out of the 13 National Highways, 2 viz., NH.4
and NH.7 are handed over to National Highways
Authority of India, New Delhi for improvements
under the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South
corridor respectively. The remaining 3,008 km
comprising of 11 National Highways are
improved/maintained by Government of India. The
total length of State Highways is 9,590 km.
Lengths of major district roads, municipal roads
and other district and village roads are
respectively 38,247 km, 8,366 km and 1,12,958
Km.
Railways : Rail network in Karnataka is 3,100 km,
which includes broad gauge (2,450 km), metre
gauge (350 km).
Aviation : Bangalore, Belgaum, Mangalore and
Hubli are the main airports. Direct flight
facilities to major cities of India are
available from Bangalore. Some international
flight activity already exists in the current
HAL/Domestic Airport.
Ports : Karnataka has formulated a new port
policy. The strategy adopted is to use private
investment for the creation of port facilities,
development of new sites and supporting
infrastructure, maritime related industries, and
coastal shipping and port facilities for power
projects. The Karnataka Industrial Investment
and Development Corporation has been appointed
as nodal agency for implementation of this
policy. A committee has been constituted to finalise the framework of agreement with private
parties.
Karnataka has numerous Tourist attractions. The
former princely capital Mysore with the
Brindavan Gardens and Srirangapattana nearby,
Sharavanabelgola with the famous monolithic
statue of Gomateshwara (57 ft high), Belur,
Halebid and Somnathpura with the famous Hoysala
monuments; Badami, Aihole and Pattadkal for the
1,300 year old rock-cut and structural temples;
Hampi, the famous open air museum (ancient
Vijayanagar); Gulbarga, Bidar and Bijapur,
renowned for their Indo-saracenic monuments;
Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada
Districts for beautiful beaches; Mangalore and
Krwar for ports; Chitradurga, Bidar,
Basavakalyan and Gulbarga with attractive forts;
Bandipur National Park, Bannerghatta National
Park are the play ground of Wild Life;
Ranganthittu, Kokkre Bellur, Mandagadde, Gudavi,
Attiveri are the famous bird sancturaries; Jog,
Sathodi,
Shivanasamudra, Mogod, Gokak, Abbey, Unchalli.
Irupu, Hebbe, Kalhatti are the mesmerising
Falls; Madikeri, Kemmannugundi, B.R. Hills,
Nandi Hills, Kudremukh, Kodachadri are the
Picturesque Hill Stations. Dussehra, Hampi,
Chalukya, Kadamba, Hoysala, Kodagu, Karaga
festivals, are depicting art and culture of
Karnataka. Kabini River Lodge, K. Gudi, Cauveri
Fishing Camp, D handeli Wilderness Camp, Devbagh
are the unique Eco-Tourism projects of
Karnataka. Gokarna, Udupi, Dharmashala, Melukote,
Gangappura, Saundatti, Kollur, Sringeri,
Horanadu, Kalasa, Kukke Subramanya, Yediyur,
Koodalasangama, Ulvi, Nanjangud are famous
pilgrimage centres. Tourism Department has
identified 215 tourist spots in the State. The
capital city of Bangalore is also a tourist
attraction with its famous huge granite
structure. Vidhana Soudha and the beautiful
Cubbon Park, and Lalbhag. Hampi and Pattadakal
have been declared as World Heritage sites.
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