The Karnataka government is preparing a procurement framework that would allow departments to evaluate and adopt technologies developed by startups through a dedicated institutional process. The proposal, operating under the state’s Government First initiative, is awaiting Cabinet approval and is intended to address the gap between startup product development and access to public-sector customers.
The planned framework would establish an expert committee drawn from academia, research institutions and industry. The panel would assess startup technologies proposed for government use, creating a specialised evaluation route for products that may not fit established procurement categories or conventional tender specifications. N Manjula, Karnataka’s secretary for electronics, information technology, biotechnology and science and technology, has confirmed the proposed committee structure and the requirement for Cabinet clearance.
Government First forms part of Karnataka’s Startup Policy 2025-2030, which places market access alongside funding, incubation, skills and regulatory support. The wider policy carries an outlay exceeding ₹500 crore and targets the creation of 25,000 startups by 2030, including 10,000 ventures outside Bengaluru. Its priority areas include artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum computing, semiconductor design and other deep-technology segments.
The procurement proposal is designed around the government serving as an early institutional customer. Startups developing systems for governance, citizen services and public administration can often demonstrate their technology in a pilot but face difficulty moving into paid deployments because procurement procedures typically require prior contracts, financial thresholds or product categories created for established vendors. A specialised evaluation mechanism could give departments a documented technical basis for considering newer products while retaining expert scrutiny.
The state has already built several channels that could feed into the framework. Its ELEVATE programme provides grants, mentoring and incubation to selected startups, while Centres of Excellence connect founders with industry and research partners in emerging technologies. Government First would extend that support towards commercial validation by creating a path from prototype and pilot testing to departmental adoption.
The initiative remains a proposal rather than an operational procurement system. Cabinet approval is still pending, and the state has not yet published final rules covering eligibility, tender thresholds, pilot duration, intellectual-property treatment, cybersecurity review, data governance, pricing or the conversion of successful pilots into larger contracts. The expert committee’s precise authority and its relationship with existing e-procurement and government-marketplace processes also remain to be defined.
Karnataka’s existing startup policy includes grant programmes for women-led companies, founders from underrepresented communities and ventures located beyond Bengaluru. The procurement framework could consequently draw technologies from a broader pipeline than the state capital alone, particularly in agriculture, healthcare, education, municipal services and regional infrastructure. The final Cabinet-approved design will determine whether evaluations lead to limited demonstrations, direct procurement within prescribed thresholds or competitive tenders informed by successful pilots.
