MANGALURU: DK Shivakumar cabinet, at its first meeting in Mangaluru Friday, approved a Rs 32,611-crore development push for coastal and Malnad regions, alongside a new Sustainable Data Centre Policy that targets 1GW of cumulative IT load by 2031 and at least 10% of India’s AI-ready data centre capacity.The five-year data centre policy from 2026 to 2031, has a revised budget framework of Rs 1,300 crore. Incentives will be linked to power and water efficiency, renewable energy use and other environmental parameters.Priyank Kharge, IT-BT minister, said the AI boom has changed the technology landscape and increased concerns over its environmental footprint. “Our objective is not simply to add more capacity, but to build the right capacity in the right locations,” he said.The policy covers data centres, parks, operators, edge facilities and cable landing stations, with regional digital corridors planned to spread capacity beyond Bengaluru. Resource heat mapping will guide site selection, while a Centre of Excellence will support research. Incentives will cover capital investment, land, electricity, skilling and MSME participation.Department of electronics, IT-BT and S&T will implement the policy, with KITS as the registration interface and Karnataka Udyoga Mitra as the single-window agency. It replaces the 2022 to 2027 framework, which had targeted Rs 10,000 crore in investment.Chief minister Shivakumar told reporters around Rs 16,000 crore was earmarked for road development, with another Rs 16,000 crore planned for Mangaluru, Udupi and other coastal areas, including through PPP models. The cabinet also cleared the Coastal and Malnad Karnataka Tourism Policy 2026 and a Coastal Tourism Perspective Plan.Infra tag for tourism projects“We will implement a separate tourism policy for fisheries, religious tourism and the coastal region,” Shivakumar said. “There have been different tourism policies in the state, but this policy is intended to strengthen those undertaking new tourism projects.”Tourism investment proposals will be treated as infrastructure projects, he said, adding that greenfield projects required additional support and sufficient time to repay loans.Under the island development programme, Rs 125 crore was approved for the northern and southern islands of the Gurupura river in Mangaluru taluk, including a 30 berth marina and 32 eco huts. Seven islands in Karwar, Bhatkal and Ankola will be developed at Rs 307 crore, while eco tourism projects on 26 acres across islands in Udupi will cost Rs 279 crore.
