Bengaluru, 23 July

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday called on industries to channel their CSR initiatives towards strengthening rural primary education and announced that the State government would set up a dedicated team to monitor CSR projects across Karnataka.

Addressing the Global CSR and Sustainability Summit 2026 organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here, he highlighted the body’s role in the development of Karnataka even before the advent of the IT and AI sectors, saying the State’s success had begun with the industry’s contribution.

“CSR is not charity; it is an investment in sustainable development,” he said, crediting former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee with introducing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework.

Shivakumar noted that he came to Bengaluru from a village in pursuit of education and never returned.

“Your priority should be primary education. I want you to adopt schools and build infrastructure. Companies like Toyota are already building schools, and I want more industries to follow that example,” he said, adding that students should not be forced to migrate to Bengaluru for quality education.

He pointed out that Karnataka’s urban population had reached 43 per cent and said Bengaluru’s population had doubled from around 70 lakh during his earlier tenure as a minister under former chief minister SM Krishna to nearly 1.4 crore today, with about 1.30 lakh vehicles on its roads.

Shivakumar noted that Karnataka currently has around 10,000 CSR initiatives and announced that a separate government team would be established to monitor them across districts.

While acknowledging that Bengaluru has grown beyond its Garden City identity, Shivakumar said it remains more affordable than several other metropolitan cities, including Mumbai. Yet, he called for balanced regional development, saying the State must now look “beyond Bengaluru”.