BENGALURU: The state government on Tuesday inked a pact with the Institute for Sustainability, Employment and Growth (ISEG) Foundation to develop a comprehensive economic masterplan for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (BMR).
“The masterplan will lay out an ambitious, data-driven and actionable vision for the BMR’s growth trajectory, which covers economy, liveability, infrastructure and sustainability with aspirations set for 2032 and 2037,” Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Tuesday.
Shivakumar said the initiative is intended to transform Bengaluru city into a world-class growth hub. The plan aims to more than double Bengaluru’s economy by 2032, making it a global peer in terms of quality of living, employment opportunities and sustainability in line with the world’s great city-regions such as Tokyo, London and Singapore.
Stating that BMR is one of India’s most consequential economic nodes, the DCM said, “The Bengaluru Metropolitan Region spans over 8,000 sqkm across three districts – Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru South – with a population of USD 1.6 billion and a GDP of USD 149 billion (FY25). The BMR accounts for more than 43% of Karnataka’s GSDP and is home to India’s largest concentration of IT, Global Capability Centres, aerospace and biotechnology activities.”
“The region’s per capita income of USD 8,850 is nearly double the state average. Bengaluru contributes 42% of India’s software exports, hosts more than 875 Global Capability Centres – more than 30% of India’s total – and is ranked the world’s second largest hub for Artificial Intelligence talent. Bengaluru’s economy has been growing at 9%+ (real) per year, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan regions of the country”, the DCM said.
Shivakumar said that despite these strengths, Bengaluru is facing challenges and there is a need to give new look and strength to city. He said that the plan would be drawn up on how to create employment, where to bring housing projects, to reduce traffic congestion and boost tourism. He said a plan with a budget of about Rs 2 lakh crore is being drawn up and would be implemented in a phased manner.
The blueprint-phase of the economic masterplan will be completed by mid-September. It will comprehensively cover an as-is diagnostic of the BMR economy benchmarked against global city-regions; a co-created long-term vision for 2032 and 2037 and identification of key growth drivers and 6–8 high-impact, investible interventions per theme – spanning technology, advanced manufacturing, biotech, tourism, housing, infrastructure and sustainability, and a phased implementation roadmap with clear milestones, financing strategies and governance structures.
The approach being adopted for Bengaluru is modelled on the G-Hub initiative – a NITI Aayog-led national programme to develop economic masterplans for India’s high-growth city-regions, with the aim of catalysing USD 500-750 billion in incremental GDP and creating 20–25 million new jobs across 8–10 city-regions.
Under this initiative, economic master plans have been completed for several regions such as Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Visakhapatnam Economic Region, Kashi-Vindhya (Varanasi) Economic Region, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri-Paradip Economic Region, Surat Economic Region and Pune Economic Region (blueprinting currently in progress), a press release said.
