Karnataka’s Quiet Superpower: How It Grabbed 41% of India’s Software Exports

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.

For a state whose reputation rests largely on Bengaluru’s startup and technology scene, the number confirms what founders and investors have long assumed: no other Indian state comes close to matching Karnataka’s software export volumes.

The state’s dominance in software, however, does not extend to physical goods. Karnataka accounts for 24% of India’s overall exports but ranks only fourth in merchandise exports, with a 7.78% share, trailing Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

At the same meeting, Darpan Jain, additional secretary in the Union commerce and industry ministry, outlined the Centre’s Export Promotion Mission (EPM), a plan to boost exports nationally by leaning on each state’s specific sectoral strengths.

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.

Beyond Bengaluru, Jain said, these districts hold significant untapped export potential in textiles, apparel, silk, leather goods, agriculture and processed food, and the Centre plans to support exporters there through financial assistance, freight subsidies, airport warehousing support and buyer-seller meets.

Wikimedia Commons/by Rameshng