Former CSIR head RA Mashelkar lauds Karnataka’s startup culture, calls it an ‘amazing 40% state’

Former director general of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr. RA Mashelkar on Friday lauded Karnataka for being an “amazing 40% state," in a veiled reference to the now ruling Congress' attacks on the former BJP government over alleged corruption during the assembly election in May.

In April last year, the State Contractors’ Association had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that some ministers and officials in the then BJP regime were taking 40% bribe in every government contract. A contractor had committed suicide, saying he was unable to meet his expenses due to the high bribes needed. The Congress had run a campaign on and off social media on this issue, calling the BJP government a “40% sarkara.”

Speaking at the plenary address on the last day of the Bangalore Tech Summit, Dr. Mashelkar turned the narrative, saying Karnataka hosts 40% of the GCCs, 40% of India’s software talent, 40% of unicorns, and responsible for 40% of exports. “Karnataka is a knowledge capital and a centre for innovation,” he added.


The state, however, must now move from incremental growth to exponential growth, he said. “The state must show leadership by creating an intellectual property policy that will incentivise innovative SMEs and startups with subsidies and grants,” he added.

The state’s startups, he added, must also do their part and inculcate the motto of the tech summit – Breaking Boundaries – not just geographically, but also in their minds. “There are six principles for startup success – affordability, scalability, sustainability, universal acceptance, rapid-to-market strategy, and a distinctive business idea,” he said.

The innovation specialist praised India, saying that it has the highest intellectual capital per dollar in the world, which was why the country’s innovations were taking the world by storm. He gave the example of the National Chemical Laboratory becoming an International Consulting Organisation within a year of inception, and also that of India’s UPI clocking 74.05 billion transactions last year – about 46% of the world’s transactions.