Bangalore: Karnataka's software exports has jumped by 34 per cent to touch Rs 7,500 crore during the five months between April and August, as against Rs 5,600 crore in the same period last year.

"IT firms from Karnataka, mainly from Bangalore have maintained their growth momentum to register 34 per cent increase in software exports during the first five months," Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director B V Naidu said in Bangalore.

He said the industry is expected to grow by 39 per cent in the first six months, but software exports from many firms including IT major Wipro were not available yet.

"We are still in the process of collecting data for the sixth month (September)," Naidu said.

He said 92 new software companies, including 56 foreign equity companies have registered with STPI during the first six months, with an investment of Rs 1,100 crore. 20 of them were BPO companies.

Sixty-six companies registered during the same period last year with an investment of Rs 885 crore.

Karnataka, which contributes over 35 per cent of India's software exports, registered Rs 18,000 crore exports in 2003-04, an increase of 46 per cent over Rs 12,400 crore in 2002-03.