Consulate General of India

17 Kannada Rajyotsava WA Kannada Sangha 8 November 2025

Yaz Mubarakai MLA
Dr Jags Krishnan MLA
Kevin Michel MLA
Sam Lim MP
Deepak Sharma, President, ISWA
Heads of other community organisations such as the Basava Samiti, VTCS, SGRSS, HSS, TAWA, MAWA, WATA,
Members of the Indian community and friends of India,

Kaya, namaste, sat sri akal, assalam alaikum, and a very good evening.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation and pay my respects to their Elders - past, present, and emerging.

Congratulations to the Western Australia Kannada Sangha for organizing the 17^th edition of Kannada Rajyotsava in the city of Perth. The formation of the state of Karnataka as we know it today was based on the States Reorganization Act of 1956 that used the linguistic identities of the people to unify Kannada-speaking regions of the former Mysore State with parts of the Bombay, Hyderabad, and Madras Presidencies, and the state of Coorg. Initially named the State of Mysore, it was officially renamed Karnataka in 1973.

Indian society and our Constitution have always celebrated and upheld the multilingual, multireligious, multiethnic identities of fits people. The rich diversity of geography, resources, cultures, knowledge systems, have been woven into a strong and brilliant fabric that embraces all of us no matter where in the world we may reside.

Karnataka’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth of 10.2% in FY 2023-24 was higher than the national average of 8.2%. While the city of Bengaluru is known as the Silicon Valley of India, it is also the home to the largest biocluster in India with 158 of the 320 companies working on biotechnology in India. Karnataka is an education powerhouse with business management, medical and engineering colleges in Bengaluru, Mangalore, Hubli–Dharwad, Mysore, Belagavi, Udupi, Tumakuru and Davanagere. The state is also a manufacturing hub for some of the largest public sector industries of India such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Hindustan Machine Tools and Indian subsidiaries of Volvo and Toyota are also headquartered in Bengaluru. India's national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization, is headquartered in Bengaluru and employs approximately 20,000 people. TVS Motors has a motorcycle manufacturing plant at Mysore and Tata Motors at Dharwad. Karnataka state has many companies engaged in the manufacturing of electrical equipment and machinery like Kirloskar, ABB, Kavika, Larsen and Toubro etc. Many multinational companies have set up their manufacturing units in Karnataka. The state has sugar factories in the northern region, edible oil processing factories, pharmaceutical factories, textile processing centres, and steel producing facilities.

It is the wisdom, entrepreneurship, perseverance of the Kannada people that has contributed to the progress of India as a nation. We are taking bold steps towards a more prosperous and glorious future as a nation, united in our resolve to serve our people and our country.

In this journey for growth and prosperity for all we have joined hands with partners like Australia and our relationship has been strengthened by the interchange of professionals and businesses, of academics, scientists and researchers, of sportsmen and artists, to make the whole world a harmonious place for future generations to grow and thrive in.

Congratulations once more to President Mr Shankar Alepadi and his team for putting together this celebration, I thank all of you gathered here together on this special day and look forward to the cultural performances lined up for the evening.

Thank you and Namaste.