I’m least bothered about Trump’s intentions: Karnataka IT Minister

Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday said he is not bothered about what impact US President-elect Donald Trump’s rule will have on the ‘Silicon Valley of India,’ because the companies operating in the state are deeply entrenched and are looking to expand, rather than migrating elsewhere.

“When Brexit happened, I was not bothered. Now, Trump has won and we are going to see him rule for the next four years.

What impact will it have on Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India? I am not bothered,” he told reporters at the ITE.Biz 2016 event here.

“Why I am not bothered is that we are entrenched. All of the people who are having the back office operations and services here - they are thinking of expanding rather than going elsewhere,” he said.

However, it was very difficult to speak on behalf of Trump because he really did not have any idea about his intentions, but looking at things with respect to IT job losses he is keen to get something back from the Asian countries, Kharge said.

“Moreover, it is very difficult to decipher Trump’s economic moves because the call is not taken by the government but the private sector in the US,” he said.

About Karnataka’s tier-II cities registering less than five per cent of the state’s IT exports, Kharge said there was no fixed success mantra, but hoped to double the number in next half of a decade.

Kharge said the product, innovation and entrepreneurial part of IT sector were doing well. “The services part of the IT might be down because of various factors, whether it is something to do with the President-Elect of the US. Service part of the IT is driven externally than internally,” he said.

As far as startups were concerned, Kharge said these “are the best times” for the startups to be in Bengaluru because he saw growth potential in gaming, animation, aerospace and cyber security areas.