Shri. UMESH V. KATTI Hon'ble Minister for Agriculture,Govt.of Karnataka

Shri Umesh Vishwanath Katti, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture, Govt. of Karnataka was born on 14-03-1961. He hails from Kadaklad village of Belguam District of Karnataka. He completed his primary and high school education from Bellada Bagewadi village and obtained Bachelor of Arts degree from Karnataka University, Dharwad. He has elected to Vidhan Sabha during 1985 for the first time and then continuously in 1989, 1994 and 1999. In 1996, he served first as a Minister for Sugar and then as a Minister for Public works in the Government headed by Shri. J. H. Patel. Hailing from a family of co-operative movement, he took pivotal role in developmental activities of Shri. Hiranyakeshi co-operative Sugar Factory which earned fame at the national level. He established Vishwanath Sugar Factory in 1999 at his home town Bellada Bagewadi with a daily crushing capacity of 2500 tons of Sugarcane combined with 34 KL distillery products and 14 MW electricity co-generation project. This paved way for economic prosperity of the farmers and employment generation for the youth of Hukkeri Taluk. He has established a Charitable Trust in the name of his father late Shri. Vishwanath Katti and through this he is serving the Society in Religious and Educational fields. In 2008, he was elected to the 13th Vidhan Sabha for the fifth time as a JDS candidate and resigned within two months. He was re-elected to Vidhan Sabha for the sixth time as a BJP candidate in the bye-election. He has served as a Minister for Horticulture and Prisons; and presently serving as a Minister for Agriculture in the Government headed by Shri. Yedyurappa . He is also the Minister In-charge for Belgaum district.