As Karnataka positions itself as a global manufacturing, innovation, and technology powerhouse, the conversation around employability has become central to the state’s growth agenda. With industries evolving rapidly across AI, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and deep tech, the need to align higher education with real-world industry expectations has never been more urgent. In this exclusive conversation, Dr. S. Selvakumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, Government of Karnataka, speaks with Kaanchi Chawla from Elets News Network (ENN) on how Karnataka is building a future-ready talent ecosystem through stronger industry-academia collaboration, apprenticeships, innovation-driven skilling, and regional workforce development. Edited excerpts:
The Industrial Policy 2025–30 targets 20 lakh jobs by 2029. What steps is the Department of Commerce and Industries taking to connect this job creation agenda directly with Karnataka’s universities and colleges?
Karnataka’s Industrial Policy 2025–30 is not just an investment policy; it is fundamentally a talent and employment policy. The target of creating 20 lakh jobs by 2029 can only be achieved if higher education institutions become active partners in the state’s industrial growth story.
Our approach is focused on building a seamless talent pipeline between academia and industry. We are working closely with universities, engineering colleges, polytechnics, ITIs, and skill institutions to align curricula with emerging industrial sectors such as advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, electronics, aerospace, EVs, green energy, AI, robotics, biotech, and logistics.
One of the major priorities is industry-linked skilling. We are encouraging companies investing in Karnataka to partner with academic institutions through Centres of Excellence, finishing schools, innovation labs, apprenticeship frameworks, and faculty development programmes. The idea is to ensure that students are exposed to real industrial environments even before graduation.
The government is also promoting district-level industrial ecosystems beyond Bengaluru. Nearly 75% of the ₹10.27 lakh crore investment commitments received during Invest Karnataka 2025 are outside Bengaluru, and more than 45% are concentrated in North Karnataka. This creates a significant opportunity for universities in tier-2 and tier-3 regions to become local talent anchors for manufacturing and emerging industries.
In parallel, Karnataka’s Skill Development Policy 2025–32 aims to integrate vocational education, digital skilling, AI-enabled career guidance, and industry certifications into mainstream education. The objective is clear: every student graduating from Karnataka should possess both academic knowledge and employable industry skills.
Invest Karnataka 2025 secured ₹10.27 lakh crore in investment commitments. What role does the Commerce and Industries Department play in ensuring Karnataka’s higher education institutions are aligned with this industrial growth?
The Commerce and Industries Department views higher education as a strategic economic asset. Investment attraction today is no longer driven only by infrastructure or incentives; it is driven by the availability of future-ready talent.
When global companies evaluate Karnataka, they look at the strength of our engineering ecosystem, research institutions, innovation culture, startup ecosystem, and workforce readiness. Therefore, aligning higher education with industrial growth is central to our long-term competitiveness.
The ₹10.27 lakh crore investment commitments secured during Invest Karnataka 2025 span sectors such as semiconductors, renewable energy, EVs, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, logistics, GCCs, AI, and electronics. Each of these sectors requires highly specialised talent.
To address this, the Department is actively promoting collaboration between industry and academia through:
- Sector-specific Centres of Excellence in universities and colleges
- Joint curriculum development with industries
- Embedded internships and apprenticeship programmes
- Industry-sponsored labs and research partnerships
- Startup incubation and innovation ecosystems within campuses
- Industry participation in academic governance and advisory boards
We are also encouraging industries setting up operations in Karnataka to invest in local talent development ecosystems around their manufacturing clusters. This creates regional employment opportunities while reducing the industry’s future talent gap.
Karnataka already has one of India’s strongest innovation ecosystems. Our goal now is to deepen industry-academia integration so that students are not merely degree holders but innovation-ready professionals capable of contributing from day one.
What is the Department’s vision for making apprenticeships a structured part of higher education in Karnataka so every graduate enters the workforce with real industry exposure?
We strongly believe that apprenticeships must become a mainstream component of higher education rather than an optional add-on. The future workforce cannot be built only through classroom learning. Industry today requires graduates who understand workplace systems, manufacturing processes, digital tools, project execution, teamwork, and problem-solving in real business environments. Our vision is to create a dual-learning ecosystem where academic education and practical industry exposure happen simultaneously.
Karnataka is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation because we have a strong combination of manufacturing, technology, startups, research institutions, GCCs, and global enterprises. We are encouraging structured apprenticeship pathways across sectors including manufacturing, electronics, EVs, aerospace, biotech, logistics, AI, and digital technologies.
The larger objective is threefold:
- Improve employability of graduates
- Reduce onboarding and training costs for industries
- Create a workforce that is productive from the beginning of employment
We are also advocating stronger industry participation in curriculum design so that apprenticeships are outcome-driven rather than procedural.
In the coming years, we envision every graduate in Karnataka completing meaningful industry exposure as part of their educational journey. This will significantly improve workforce readiness and strengthen Karnataka’s position as India’s leading knowledge and manufacturing economy.
What does a future-ready Karnataka graduate look like from the industry’s perspective, and what is the Department doing to make that the standard across the state’s higher education institutions?
A future-ready Karnataka graduate is someone who combines technical competence with adaptability, innovation, digital fluency, and problem-solving capability. Industry today is evolving rapidly due to AI, automation, advanced manufacturing, sustainability, Industry 4.0 technologies, and global supply chain transformations. Therefore, companies are increasingly looking beyond academic scores.
The modern industry-ready graduate must possess strong domain knowledge, Digital and AI literacy, Communication and collaboration skills, Analytical and critical thinking ability, Innovation mindset, Entrepreneurial orientation, Practical exposure to industry environments and Capacity for continuous learning.
Karnataka already has significant strengths in technology, R&D, startups, and higher education. The next step is standardising industry readiness across institutions throughout the state.
The Department is supporting this transformation by enabling Greater industry-academia collaboration; Innovation and incubation ecosystems in campuses; AI and emerging technology skilling; Manufacturing-focused training programmes; Entrepreneurship and startup culture; Research-commercialisation partnerships and Exposure to global industrial practices.
We also see an important role for institutions outside Bengaluru. As industrial growth expands across North Karnataka and tier-2 regions, local colleges and universities will play a major role in creating region-specific talent ecosystems.
Ultimately, our goal is to position Karnataka not only as an investment destination, but as India’s most future-ready talent destination.
Also Read: AI Bridging the Gap Between Campus and Career
The Campus to Career Summit is a significant step in aligning education with employment. What does Karnataka’s industry see as the most urgent priority this summit must address?
The most urgent priority is closing the employability gap between academic learning and industry expectations.
India has a large young population, but the key challenge is ensuring that graduates are job-ready in a rapidly changing economic and technological environment. Karnataka’s industries are growing across manufacturing, AI, semiconductors, EVs, logistics, biotech, aerospace, GCCs, and deep tech sectors. These industries require talent that is skilled, adaptable, and innovation-oriented.
The Campus to Career Summit is important because it creates a common platform where industry, academia, policymakers, and students can collectively redesign the talent ecosystem.
From the industry’s perspective, the summit must focus on five key priorities:
- Strengthening industry-academia collaboration
- Embedding apprenticeships and internships into education
- Aligning curricula with future industry requirements
- Expanding skilling in AI, digital technologies, advanced manufacturing, and sustainability
- Creating stronger regional talent ecosystems beyond Bengaluru
The conversation should move from simply producing graduates to producing employable, innovative, and globally competitive professionals.
Karnataka has all the ingredients required to lead India’s next phase of industrial and knowledge-driven growth, world-class institutions, a strong startup ecosystem, global industries, policy support, and a young talent base. The opportunity now is to integrate these strengths into a unified Campus-to-Career framework that can become a national model.
