Rs50 crore allotted for promoting animation in Karnataka

The state government will set up a Rs50-crore venture capital fund to promote the field of animation, visual effects and gaming, a key official said on Wednesday.

IT secretary MN Vidyashankar said a Rs40-crore incubation centre for this sector would also be established here.

The state government would provide 25% of the funds for this incubation centre, while 50% would come from the industry. The balance is expected to come from the Centre.

The initiatives are part of the policy for the sector approved by the state cabinet on Tuesday.

Vidyashankar said a joint industry-government body would be constituted to implement the policy in a time-bound manner.
“We will also help students in getting educated in select colleges and universities by appropriately modifying the curriculum”, he said.

He said training centres would be set up in places like Davangere, Hubli-Dharwad,Kolar and Chikkaballapur, which have a lot of potential, to fine-tune the skill sets of students.

The sector employs about 3,000 professionals in Bangalore alone and about 19,000 to 20,000 in the state. This number is expected to go up to one lakh in the next five years, Vidyashankar added.

(With PTI inputs)