Karnataka will promote secondary cities, including Mysore and Mangalore, as information technology destinations, even as the state is gearing up to provide employment to an additional 40,000 personnel in software and business process outsourcing segments.

"We are planning to showcase the secondary cities in the state as IT destinations," Karnataka IT, biotechnology and science and technology secretary M K Shankaralinge Gowda said on Wednesday.

Hubli and Belgaum are other cities that would be promoted, he said, adding that the state would also seek an increased investment by foreign companies in IT firms in these localities.

The state is expecting to replicate the success of Bangalore in both software and IT-enabled services spaces, he said.

Karnataka is planning to ramp up infrastructure facilities in the cities, which include widening of roads, providing housing close to workplace, which would help in cutting costs and providing high-quality Internet and broadband services, Gowda said.

The state is also planning to provide employment to additional 40,000 personnel in the current fiscal and expects to recruit over 100,000 personnel in these next two years, he said.

At present, Karnataka employs around 210,000 staff in various segment including BPO, IT and ITeS segments, while Infosys Technologies Ltd alone had earlier announced a recruitment of over 5,000 this year.