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 In a bid to encourage women to take up entrepreneurship, the Karnataka government will soon set up exclusive industrial parks dedicated to them in Mysuru, Dharwad, Harohalli and Kalaburagi, Large and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani announced here on Thursday.

The minister was inaugurating a women entrepreneurs' event titled 'Together We Grow' organised by UBUNTU Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs Associations to mark International Women Entrepreneurship Day at a private hotel here.

UBUNTU is a Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs Associations. Over 30 women entrepreneurs associations and 1,500 members function under single platform.

Explaining the various government initiatives, Nirani urged budding women entrepreneurs to make use of those schemes. "Karnataka is the first state in India to set up exclusive industrial parks dedicated to women in Mysuru, Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Harohalli. The purpose will be served if women entrepreneurs take advantage of this initiative. Women should join hands with the government in driving industrial growth by taking up entrepreneurship and providing jobs," Nirani urged.

Lauding the achievements of women in every sector, the minister wanted women entrepreneurs to create jobs. "Women are shining in every field in this competitive world. Empowerment of women will become more meaningful when women become entrepreneurs and provide jobs to others. Successful women entrepreneurs like Sudha Narayana Murthy of Infosys, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon have become role models and their success stories should become a source of inspiration for budding women entrepreneurs," Nirani opined.

The minister said government, through various initiatives has been encouraging women entrepreneurs to unlock their potential to generate unlimited profit and create jobs. 'Udyami Aagu, Udyoga Needu' programme in Bengaluru was a grand success and it will be conducted in other districts in the coming days, Nirani informed.

He lauded UBUNTU for supporting and guiding women entrepreneurs and promised to extend government's cooperation and support in their endeavours.

"We are proud of the fact that today India has 13.5 - 15.7 million women-owned enterprises, representing 20 per cent of all enterprises. Accelerating quantity and quality of entrepreneurship towards such benchmarks can create over 30 million women-owned enterprises and this is not an impossible goal," Nirani expressed.

Explaining the regulations aimed at helping women, minister Nirani promised incentives for women entrepreneurs from weaker sections. "Amendment to the Factories Act, 1948 allows women to work in the night shift between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Additional incentives are proposed to special category entrepreneurs such as SC/ ST women under new industrial policy," Nirani informed.