Smartwork, not hype, begets success. Review on Bangalore

Hyderabad is the place of my nativity and Mumbai is currently my adopted home. A good three summers of my life have been spent studying at Bangalore and that’s one city that I’ve always been enamoured of. A lot has already been written about Bangalore from a tourist’s point of view - how to get there, where to stay, what to see, etc. I’ll therefore limit the scope of mine to analyzing whether it’s really all hype and no substance surrounding its status as the cradle of tech boom in India.

Over the last one decade or so, Bangalore has morphed from being just a tourist getaway into the “Silicon Valley of India”. It accounts for more than 30% of India’s IT software production and software exports, which accounted for a miniscule Rs. 6 crores in 1991-92 have now increased to more than Rs. 7400 crores in 2001. Bangalore is also the home to many high-tech industries like Computer Hardware/Software, Electronics and Telecommunications. Surely that kind of industrial growth would not have been possible nor would so many MNCs have sunk in millions of dollars to established bases without first being convinced of the long-term benefits that it affords.

What factors led to the IT boom in Bangalore?

The Right Infrastructure

Bangalore is extremely well-planned and well-developed unlike its more famous “cousins” across the country. The roads and buildings have been built in a phased manner and cleanliness and greenery is a fetish with the people. It might not have an airport of its own under the aegis of Airports Authority of India but is that really an issue so long as the city is well-connected by scores of flights to and from all corners of the country? The Karnataka Government, in collaboration with the Govt. of Singapore established the STPI Complex and the Electronics City on the outskirts of the city with all the required infrastructure and this created the right climate to tempt MNC’s to set shop in Bangalore.

Education & Training Facilities

Bangalore has always been known for it’s rich educational and cultural milieu. It boasts of many leading engineering and scientific colleges and research institutes in India. It is home to the world-renowned Indian Institute of Science (co-founded by Swami Vivekananda), the Indian Space Research Organization, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Aeronautical Development and the Raman Institute of Physics. The Government was quick to recognize the importance of IT education in the late 80’s and actively encouraged the setting up of IT training institutes and colleges which laid a solid foundation for the IT boom.

A stinging allegation against Bangalore and Hyderabad has been that they have, in their all-encompassing eagerness to take advantage of their inherent advantages, churned out lakhs of “fake IT specialists” in the process and ruined the reputation of other cities like Mumbai (!) and New Delhi (?) Now, is it humanly possible for the Government to sift through the credentials of each and every IT specialist and certify him/her as genuine? For every 100 specialists churned out, there are bound to be atleast 10 fakes who fake degree/specialization certificates and try to earn some fast dollars by bagging jobs in the foreign markets. Since a bulk of the IT professionals hail from these two states, fingers are naturally pointed at them for the bad name brought about by these fakes.

Active Government Support

Successive Karnataka Governments have been smart enough to foresee the potential of the software industry as an engine for stimulating industrial growth, nurturing employment opportunities and earning valuable foreign exchange. Accordingly, they have come up with a number of incentives to encourage the IT industry. The setting up of a Software Technology Park (STP) and the International Technology Park Ltd. have been positive steps in this direction. The Government has also setup the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) comprising industry captains of Bangalore based companies to chart, advise the Government and plan for the future growth of the industry in the city.

Social Life and other factors

When there is a great work atmosphere at the office and a relaxing social life in the evenings to unwind, what more could one ask for? Imagine, on the other hand, getting struck at a bus stop in New Delhi in the middle of the night because there are not enough CNG busses on the road or travelling precariously in an overcrowded local train for a minimum of one hour in Mumbai and reaching home only to give the impression to your folks that you’ve just come off from a street brawl!

While there is a very good percentage of English speaking population in the city, it’s difficult to come across someone who can’t speak hindi…unless one does PhD in it and speaks in a long extinct dialect. The city also has a rich cultural diversity. The layouts of the residential areas are often confusing with their “crosses and streets” and the city bus drivers often drive like think they are in the midst of an F-1 race in the Monaco Grand Prix! Those are however minor blemishes in a city which otherwise ranks right at the top among the metros in India when charted on all the parameters that matter.

My Opinion

Bangalore was quick in identifying IT as a potential boom industry and took steps to provide for it’s smooth development. It has been offering the right infrastructure and other facilities required for spawning a knowledge industry of this magnitude and the results are there for all to see. A city is only as good as its denizens are and I personally feel that the Bangaloreans are a very helpful and pleasant lot. The pollution levels are quite low when compared to other big cities, thanks mainly to the abundance of green trees that dot both sides of the roads. Considering all the above factors as also the fact that it continues to grow steadily even after the dotcom bubble burst fortifies its claim of truly being the “Silicon Valley of India”.

What I like the best about Bangalore is the huge advertisement boards in prominent places with the words “CONTACT SUJAY” written in bold on them. I don’t mind the free publicity but if only the ad firm was nice enough to list my phone number below those two words, imagine the kind of fan following I would be having on the distaff side by now ;-)