Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna said on Saturday that the IT task force on hardware would soon submit its recommendations for a comprehensive hardware policy for the state.

Delivering his address at the inaugural of the state's flagship IT event Bangalore IT.COM 2003, Krishna said the task force is also moving ahead for setting up a hardware technology park in the city.

"The hardware industry provides employment to more than 500,000 professionals. Perceiving the future that the hardware segment offers and recognising the necessity of having a strong and vibrant hardware industry, the state government has set up the hardware task force," he said.

Asserting that the government was a catalyst in building the right investment climate, Krishna said, this is being achieved by positive initiatives in the areas of legal reforms, the single window system of clearances and provision of infrastructure required for the IT industry.

The sixth edition of Bangalore IT.COM has participation from over 285 companies with the city positioning itself as the destination for IT outsourcing in the second IT wave.

He said the government intended to control the haphazard growth of IT industries, even as it attracted IT investment, by setting up an IT corridor in the city.

"A sizeable expanse of land has been identified for an IT corridor for regulating the successful and scientific growth of knowledge-based industries," Krishna said.

Quoting a McKinsey report, Krishna said one million jobs could be created by 2010 in the state, out of which over 40 per cent could be generated in the business process outsourcing sector.

He said Karnataka had emerged as a research and development hub in the knowledge-based sector and cited a study by Administrative Staff College of India, which indicated

77 global firms had established R&D centres as direct subsidiaries; several others have formed R&D alliances with, or have contracted research, to local firms.

They include telecom service providers, chip designers, IT hardware companies and medical equipment manufacturers among others.

Krishna said the legal and bureaucratic hurdles for the proposed international airport were over and work on the project would begin by December.

Lauding the state's achievement in IT for the common man, Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi said digital technology should be used to bridge the digital divide and as a vehicle to benefit the common man and government machinery.

Infosys managing director Nandan M Nilekani, i-flex CEO international operations Ravisankar and German Consul General Johann Heinz Kopp were also present on the occasion.