Karnataka Leads India in Software Exports at 41%, Yet Ranks Only 4th in Goods

Karnataka contributes 41% of India’s software exports, retaining its position as the country’s largest software exporting state, chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh said at the State-Level Export Promotion Committee (SLEPC) meeting in Bengaluru on Friday.

It is a number that puts Karnataka far ahead of every other state in one category of trade. Yet in another, it lags: the state ranks only fourth in merchandise exports, with a 7.78% share, behind Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Combined, software and goods give Karnataka a 24% share of India’s overall exports.

The gap between the two rankings was part of the backdrop for a wider announcement at the meeting. Darpan Jain, additional secretary in the Union commerce and industry ministry, outlined the Centre’s Export Promotion Mission (EPM), aimed at boosting exports nationally by leveraging the sectoral strengths of individual states.

Jain said the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has launched a time-bound campaign under the Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative, covering 120 priority districts across the country, with Bengaluru Urban, Belagavi, Hassan, Kolar and Dakshina Kannada selected for Karnataka in the first phase.

Jain said districts beyond Bengaluru have significant export potential in sectors such as textiles, apparel, silk, leather goods, agriculture and processed food, and that the Centre would support exporters there through financial assistance, freight subsidies for shipments from districts outside Bengaluru, airport warehousing support and buyer-seller meets.

The initiative signals an attempt to close Karnataka’s goods-export gap even as its software lead remains unmatched nationally.

Wikimedia Commons/by Rameshng