Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai recently dismissed the attempts to compare Bengaluru and Hyderabad as a ‘joke'. Politicians do give rhetorical statements to hit the headlines or garner maximum eyeballs. Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao's statements and counter-statements to KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar is another example for such rhetoric.
Both KTR and Shivakumar were trying to take advantage of Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Ravish Naresh’s (the founder of the Bengaluru-based startup Khatabook) displeasure over the infrastructure facilities in Bengaluru city. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu has also jumped into the issue. TN Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan claimed that his state is keeping a watch on the happenings in Karnataka and that the IT companies have massive interest in diversifying to Tamil Nadu.
However, experts and industry pundits ponder whether such attempts by political leaders to attract the IT firms to their states succeed in the long run.
“Bengaluru's lack of adequate infrastructure in proportion to the demand is nothing new because the city is growing in terms of population and private investment. KTR says Ravish Naresh can pack up from Bengaluru and settle in Hyderabad. But it may be noted that in 2020, Hyderabad witnessed large-scale inundation and the rainwater entered houses and office complexes. Even IT offices, including that of Infosys, were not spared. Bengaluru had also hit the headlines in 2012 because of its garbage crisis. While KTR claimed Hyderabad would be like New York, (former Karnataka chief minister) S.M. Krishna promised to make Bengaluru the next Singapore. Both are just claims. Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been able to attract industrial investments not because of politicians but because of their talent pools. The back offices of top MNCs are located in these two cities despite the fact that both cities lack infrastructure facilities,” remarked Girish Linganna, Defence Analyst and Managing Director of ADD Engineering India (an Indo- German Company).
Bengaluru held the sixth position in the overall analysis of the 10-year period between 2008 and 2018 for the top destination for ICT and electronic sectors, as per London & Partners. Hyderabad was ranked 14th.
Chennai is not different in terms of infrastructure, said Linganna. “Minister Thiagarajan should not forget that Chennai city drowned due to rains in 2021 and 803 roads had to be blocked. In 2015, life was paralysed in Chennai, thanks to water stagnation. The conservative outlook of Chennai is not allowing it to grow into an inclusive city,” he said.
Industry representatives from Bengaluru pointed out that the attempts by politicians of the neighbouring states to woo tech firms might succeed in small measures, considering the infrastructure and the regulatory framework which states like Telangana and Tamil Nadu are working to provide. They also have very forward-looking policies to attract investments.
“One of the key reasons why Bengaluru and Karnataka attract technology investments is the weather which neither Telangana nor TN can offer. These states are very forward thinking–they are demonstrating a political will to get the investments in. On the other hand, in Karnataka, there seems to be a lack of political will to support IT and ITES ventures. This is a reason why TN and Telangana seem to be becoming better destinations for these kinds of companies,” said Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director, IET India.
He, however, claimed that the pervasiveness of tech companies and sheer number of the tech and IT professionals along with a strong engineering education ecosystem make Bengaluru a fertile ground for young tech entrepreneurs – whether in terms of talent, collaboration, connections or even infrastructure support.
“That being said, Bengaluru is just one of the hubs and it is not the only one. Gurugram is also a hub, and there are multiple start-hubs which are emerging across the country. This is great and that is how it should be,” Sanyal pointed out.
Industry representatives also point out that Bengaluru is the pivotal IT mountain around which an unusual tug of war has started.
“Rama Rao, the IT Minister of Telangana, on one side, D.K. Shivakumar of the Karnataka Congress on the other, and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on the third side. An interesting rope with three ends being tugged at to churn out the elixir of more IT jobs creation. Let there be healthy competition in the form of good physical and social infrastructure to let youngsters choose wherever they want to work and live in this country. The country also belongs to the younger and future generations,” remarked H.S. Srivatsa, Professor – Faculty of Management and Commerce, M. S Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru.
