BENGALURU: With traffic snarls choking almost every major city in Karnataka and the patience of investors wearing thin, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday rolled out an ambitious 25-year urban transformation plan, centred around a statewide ‘Traffic Grid’ and a hard push for ease of doing business in the state.
Recalling former chief minister SM Krishna’s vision that Bengaluru should build capacity for the future, Shivakumar said the time for incremental fixes is over. “We cannot afford to waste time. This will be a comprehensive Traffic Grid for all urban areas, not just Bengaluru,” Shivakumar announced.
The plan envisages ring roads for all major cities, strategic widening of roads and a legal framework to ensure that infrastructure keeps pace with growth. Mistakes in projects like the Peripheral Ring Road, which has been unduly delayed, will not be repeated. Already, urban and rural development departments are working in sync, he said.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Shivakumar held over 100 meetings, including discussions with over 45 global companies in AI, data centres, aviation, renewables and electric vehicles. In a calculated move, he refused to sign MoUs at Davos. “Let them come to Karnataka, breathe our air and see our talent before signing,” he said. He promised to dismantle a system where files move through 28 channels. “Time is money.”
He confirmed advanced talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to fund Bengaluru’s proposed tunnel road project, drawing inspiration from Zurich’s dense tunnel network. A study visit to Japan is planned to finalise cutting-edge tunnelling technology, he added.
He stood firm on the proposed AI City at Bidadi, brushing aside criticism. “When farmers are willing to give land for development, no one can stop progress,” he said, calling the Bengaluru Business Corridor compensation package the best in the country.
Asserting Bengaluru’s primacy in the country, he said, “The prime minister has called only one Indian city a ‘Global City’, and that is Bengaluru.” He said the state produces 2.5 million engineering professionals, far ahead of California’s 1.3 million,13,900 doctors and nearly 1 lakh medical professionals every year, far more than any other state, he added.
“Infrastructure alone won’t solve the crisis, we need civic discipline too. In Davos, no one overtakes recklessly. Discipline matters,” he added. The state government has earmarked Rs 2.5 lakh crore over five years for Bengaluru’s infrastructure, including 123 km of elevated corridors and 300 km of buffer roads, Shivakumar said.
Recently, representatives from IT giants and tech leaders had publicly highlighted how traffic jams cause long commutes, reducing productivity, and escalating costs. Some CEOs and founders of companies have voiced their frustration over potholes, endless jams, and poor infrastructure, with some even threatening to relocate or urging work from home revival.