NEW DELHI: Karnataka has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the Centre’s Electronics Development Fund (EDF), accounting for 90 of the 128 companies backed under the scheme and nearly two-thirds of the total investment made by its associated venture funds.The eight “daughter funds” supported by EDF invested Rs 1,335.77 crore in 128 startups and companies as of June 30, the electronics and information technology ministry told Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Of these, 77 firms were working in electronics system design and manufacturing and 51 in information technology.Bengaluru alone accounted for 89 companies — 56 in electronics manufacturing and 33 in IT — while one company was based in Belagavi. Together, Karnataka-based firms received Rs 854.54 crore, or about 64% of the total investment.Telangana was a distant second, with seven Hyderabad-based companies receiving Rs 129.97 crore. Eight companies in Mumbai and Pune received Rs 142.48 crore, while six Delhi firms were allotted Rs 99.2 crore. Five Chennai companies received Rs 62.24 crore.The remaining investments went to companies in Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. No company from Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu figured among the beneficiaries, according to the state-wise data submitted in Parliament.EDF was established as a “fund of funds”, with the government investing Rs 257.77 crore in eight professionally managed, Sebi-registered venture funds. These funds subsequently deployed more than five times that amount in technology companies. The supported firms have collectively raised around Rs 22,553.82 crore and created or acquired 373 intellectual-property assets, the ministry said.Companies were selected on the basis of their innovation potential, indigenous technology development, capacity to create intellectual property, the technical strength of their founding teams and the commercial scalability of their business models.Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd manages EDF, while the electronics ministry is its anchor investor. The fund completed its investment phase in February 2024 and is now in the divestment phase. Its daughter funds continue to monitor the operational performance, market growth and technological progress of the companies they backed.
