Striving to give the Indian agricultural startup a much needed technological boost, the Karnataka government has decided to allocate an amount of Rs 10 crore for agriculture innovation startups in the month of May.

As of today, about 60–70% of Indian population (directly or indirectly) depends upon the Agriculture sector. But, unfortunately, due to lack of innovation in the sector, it currently just contributes over 16–17% of the country's GDP.

Speaking at the National Trade Fair For Organics and Millets 2017 being held in Bangalore, Karnataka's IT and Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge said that the state government will ramping up its pace of helping startups in the agri space with series A and B funding by connecting them to potential investors.

He also revealed the government have had long discussions on the need of innovation in the agriculture sector and has decided to set aside a Rs 10 crore budget for the same. The amount will be allocated to selected agriculture innovation startups in May.

Talking about the Karnataka's government efforts in boosting startups in the state, Kharge shared that the government had recently funded Rs 2.5 crore to eight startups in the tourism space. The minister also took the podium to throw light on the fact that the state of Karnataka is the only state in the whole of India to have a Proof of Concept (Idea2POC) Grant Scheme, under which the government issues upto Rs 50 lakh as part of its multi-sectoral startup policy and works closely with various stakeholders to create ideation and incubation sectors.

According to Kharge, the Karnataka government is currently even funding startups in tier-II cities that have registered with the startup cell.

Adding to what Kharge said about the state government's dedication to startups, Karnataka's Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that as of today, Karnataka is the only state in the Indian subcontinent which supports startups with a dedicated agri fund and also provides food processing funding, in case a company is not eligible for innovation funding.

Keep watching this space to know the names of the startups that receive this agriculture innovation funding in May.
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