BENGALURU: Bengaluru, which adorns many titles, added one more feather to its cap on Friday. It was placed 13 in the top 30 global cities of the future ranking, in the global economy and foreign direct investment (FDI), which was released by Knight & Frank. While hailing the recognition, industry captains pointed out to the government that a lot more needs to be done to sustain and improve the city.
Singapore topped the list for the fourth consecutive time, followed by London and Dubai. Bengaluru is the only city in the country to make it to the list. Soon after the report was released, ministers B Sriramulu and Jagadish Shettar took to Twitter to celebrate the achievement. IT-BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta said that the list is an important parameter that shows how the investment fraternity looks at the city, and reveals the city’s high recall value.
The challenge, however, is to ensure that it is sustained and improved, he added. T V Mohandas Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education Services, said, “Bengaluru has the highest number of people in technology -- around 20 lakh people. It has 25,000 IT companies and gets $5-6 billion FDI every year.”
‘Bengaluru has good startup ecosystem, talent pool’
“Besides, 12-15 million sqft area is used as office space here,” T V Mohandas Pai said. But, he added, the government needs to invest better in Bengaluru. Metro Rail work is very slow, though the city needs a quick 200 km Metro line. Travelling to and from the airport is a nightmare as commuters are stuck on Hebbal flyover for 30 minutes. But Singapore is ranked number 1 as the government works there. Politicians here need to get the work done and all leaders should act together, Pai added.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon, said, “Karnataka has a start-up policy and a start-up vision group, which is being followed by the Centre now. The finance ministry should improve investments to startups so that other Indian cities like Pune and Hyderabad too get recognition.”
She said Bengaluru has a good natural start-up ecosystem and the talent pool here is very good. Every institution has created an incubation centre, the city has many unicorns and majority of philanthropic capital investment goes to startups. A similar system is missing in other cities. Bengaluru also has the risk-taking appetite which makes it an ideal place, she added.
Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel and member of Karnataka Startup Advisory Council, said, “What has happened in Bengaluru is coming together of the ecosystem, government, traditional large industries (like Wipro and Infosys), startups and R&D. The energy is all-pervasive, creating the right environment. The millennial youth and the cosmopolitan city make it an ideal fertile land. But the present infrastructure does not match the potential, which now needs to improve. Also, during the lockdown, Bengaluru and India showed to all IT firms globally that it can deliver and adapt in most critical times, which also helped.”