Bengaluru, Aug 1 (IANS): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Saturday swapped portfolios with cabinet colleague R.V. Deshpande, passing to him charge of large and medium industries and taking higher education portfolio from him.

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala notified the minor reshuffle of portfolios.

Deshpande will continue to hold the tourism ministry as an additional portfolio.

"The minor reshuffle has taken place in view of the upcoming third Karnataka Global Investors Meet (GIM) to be held here in November for attracting investments from overseas and across the country," a senior official told IANS.

Deshpande, 68, is a five-time lawmaker from Haliyal assembly segment in Uttara Kannada district, about 440 km from here.

He held the industry portfolio for over a decade in past in the H.D. Deve Gowda and the J.H. Patel-led Janata Dal-United government (1994-1999) and then in the S.M. Krishna's Congress government (1999-2004).