Announcing several measures to give a boost to the nanotechnology sector in Karnataka, Science and Technology Minister Anand V Asnotikar on Thursday said the government is mulling a policy for promotion of this rapidly developing field in the state.
The government is also on the verge of introducing a policy on animation and gaming to give a boost to the promising sector, he said, reading out from Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda's speech copy at the Fourth Bangalore Nano Conference.
The government proposes to set up a state-of-the-art Nano Park near the Bangalore International Airport and an Expression of Interest has already been invited for development of the park on a public-private partnership basis, the minister
said.
"This initiative will give a major fillip to the nanotechnology sector in the state," Asnotikar said. The government is also providing an acre of land for the establishment of a nanotechnology lab under the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research on the neighbouring premises of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Energy and Development at Jakkur.
Moreover, the government has taken up civil works for the Indian Institute of Nano Science and Technology coming up on Tumkur Road, Asnotikar said. "We have already alloted 14 acres on Tumkur Road for setting up the Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) institute," he said.
The state government is committed to providing enhanced budgetary support for nano initiatives, such as those of the Vision Group on Science and Technology, in the coming 2012-13 Budget session, he said.