Karnataka seeks industry partnership to strengthen BFSI, FinTech ecosystem

New Delhi: The Government of Karnataka on Wednesday called for deeper collaboration with the BFSI and FinTech industry to strengthen the State's technology ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions for businesses, government and citizens.

Follow The PSUWatch Channel on Whatsapp

The call came during an Industry Meet on BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) & FinTech, organised by the Department of Electronics, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, as a prelude to Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026, officials said.

Speaking at the interaction, IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the future of Karnataka's technology ecosystem will be built through partnership. Government cannot do this alone, and industry cannot do it alone, he added.

"Our role as a government is to listen, create the right platforms, remove barriers wherever we can and create an environment where innovation can be tested and adopted responsibly," he said.

According to him, through initiatives such as Government First, we want startups to have a pathway to solve real government problems, test their solutions and, where they demonstrate value, scale them across departments.

"At the same time, we need industry to help us shape skills, Centres of Excellence, policies and the technologies that government should adopt.

Whether it is AI, FinTech, cybersecurity, data, compute, financial inclusion or emerging technologies, the pace of change is faster than policy can anticipate. That is why continuous dialogue with the people building these technologies is critical," he said.

According to an official statement, the interaction highlighted avenues for participation across the conference, exhibition, partnerships and other strategic engagements at Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026.

The discussion covered a wide range of issues shaping the future of the BFSI and technology ecosystem, including: Government First and startup adoption, regulatory frameworks and ease of doing business, data access and regulatory sandboxes, trust, safety and responsible innovation, technology adoption across government, it said.

The interaction also highlighted the potential of the Government First programme to create a more accessible pathway for startups to work with government. Under the initiative, startups can propose solutions to public problems as well as respond to problem statements identified by government departments, enabling technology to be evaluated through pilots before wider adoption, officials said.

Follow PSU Watch on LinkedIN

The BFSI and FinTech community also emphasised the importance of closer collaboration between industry and academia to build a future-ready talent pool, while discussions around AI, compute, data sovereignty and cybersecurity highlighted the need for continued government-industry engagement as emerging technologies reshape financial services and public administration, they said.

The BFSI & FinTech Industry Meet was organised as a prelude to Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026, which will be held from November 17-19, 2026 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, it added.

(PSU Watch is India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy. 👉 Click to join our channel now: PSUWatch WhatsApp Channel. Prefer LinkedIn? Follow PSU Watch on LinkedIN. Click to stay connected on Twitter here and stay updated.)