Indian center of technology Chief Minister says Karnataka state's plan to set aside jobs for locals is not finalized.

July 17, BENGALURU (Reuters) – Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated on Wednesday that the Karnataka state’s plan to mandate that enterprises provide 50%–70% of jobs to locals is still in the planning stages. This comes after the draft bill was criticized for making it more difficult for international businesses operating in the region to attract talent.
“A final decision (on the bill) will be taken after comprehensive discussion in the next cabinet meeting,” Siddaramaiah stated in an amended post on messaging app X.

According to the draft bill, which Reuters had access to, companies must award individuals from the state of Karnataka 70% of non-management positions and 50% of management positions.
To become legislation, the measure must be approved by the state legislature of Karnataka.
About 14 million people live in Bengaluru, the tech hub of Karnataka. Thousands of Indian startups and global corporations, like Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Walmart (WMT.N), operate out of this south Indian city. The city is home to two Indian tech companies: Wipro (WIPR.NS), opens new tab, and Infosys (INFY.NS), opens new tab.

Leaders in the industry opposed the law, claiming it would discriminate against people who wish to work in the state but are not citizens.
Executive chairperson at pharmaceutical Biocon (BION.NS), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, stated, “There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy,” opens new tab.
Aarin Capital Partners chairman and former Infosys finance head Mohandas Pai commented, opening a new tab on social media: “The bill need to be scrapped. It goes against the constitution and is discriminatory and regressive.”

The state administration was also urged to rescind the measure by the IT sector association Nasscom.
The opposition Congress party, which is in charge of the state of Karnataka, has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration for not doing more to combat unemployment.
Karnataka is not the first Indian state to attempt enforcing local candidates’ employment quotas. In 2020, the northern state of Haryana attempted to implement a 75% hiring locals job quota, but it was later overturned by a court.

“For a few years now, the sentiment in some urban parts of the state has been for greater local protectionism – from bigger nameboards in Kannada to higher job reservations,” Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst, said.

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