'Bangalore is 2nd-largest IT cluster after Silicon Valley'

'Bangalore is 2nd-largest IT cluster after Silicon Valley' Bangalore is the second-largest IT cluster in the world after Silicon Valley, says Srivatsa Krishna, secretary - IT, Biotech, e-governance Karnataka government, implying that the comparison with Hyderabad is unwarranted. In a bid to justify his point further, he says: "Hyderabad took eight years to fructify MoU with Google." Moreover, he adds that Bangalore now is also the start-up capital of India for sure. Below is the verbatim transcript of Srivatsa Krishna's interview with CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan Q: Google, Amazon and Uber, Hyderabad says we are now India's IT capital, what do you have to say? A: This year we have done almost 36-38 percent of India's software exports from one state - Karnataka, and most of it is from Bangalore. Competition - add the next two together, they don't reach up to even half of us. So, facts speak differently. The Google story is an MoU which I am told was signed 6-8 years ago and got fructified now. So, if it takes you eight years to fructify then they have something to worry about. Secondly, the recent study done says today Bangalore is the second-largest IT cluster on the planet after Silicon Valley and by 2020 with 2 million direct IT jobs, 6 million indirect jobs and Rs 4 lakh crore exports at 40 percent of India's exports, we will be the single-largest IT cluster on the planet. Uber was in conversation with us, Amazon already has a fulfilment centre here, they also have a fulfilment centre there. Fact of the matter is everyone first comes to Bangalore and then goes elsewhere. Google is already here. Q: So, what are you going to do now to try and prevent people from looking at other states because every state government is rolling out the red carpet to investors at this point in time, it is good but in this sort of competitive federal structure what are you going to do and we have seen several iterations as far as your IT policy is concerned. What more can we expect to keep investors here and to bring new investments in? A: Firstly the i4 policy which was launched about a year and half back has just attracted what is considered to be the single-largest tech Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) ever in the country. Exxon Mobil which has announced its IT services centre, business support centre in Bangalore, it is their first business support centre in India and we are also talking about an R&D hub and a technology hub which should bring in even more investment. We are also in dialogue with a top Fortune company which I can't tell you the name, a fortune top two or three company which will bring in USD 1 billion of investment and we are hopeful of closing it come fall. This apart, let me answer the other part of the question on start-ups. We are today the unquestioned start-up capital of the country. Three fourths of India's start ups get incubated here and we have begun, we have pioneered what is called the start-up warehouse in partnership with National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and the states you speak about all of them have cut-paste copied it into their states. We have now gone ahead and have done the next gen start-up warehouse 50,000 square feet India's first internet of things lab, first mobile design lab and for the first time we are doing India's first mobile apps incubator with Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and it will be in partnership with Google and others. Q: Let me now shift to e-governance. The government has just launched this massive Digital India initiative. As far as the state government is concerned you have already been significantly ahead of what other states are doing as far as e-governance is concerned. What kind of contracts are we likely to see you give out? What can we expect more on the e-governance platform front? A: Tow things - we launched Karnataka Mobile One. The President of India came down to Bangalore on December 8 and lunched it. First time ever that Apple has approved an app from any government in India on the iStore and it is on the Google Play store, it has got a 4 on 5 rating. We are doing about a lakh hits and downloads per day with no advertising. So, now it is a platform, it is not a government system. It is a platform where we encourage young start-ups to come and try out their ideas. We have a lot of new start-ups companies offering services and it is the only platform where you can do something unique. For instance if you want to pay your income tax you can do it only on Mobile One in the country. Remember it is a federal service, the income tax is something you pay to the government of India but it is a state government called Karnataka which enabled it and made it happen. Secondly, e-procurement where we are the unquestioned leaders. We do about USD 12-15 billion worth of transactions every year on the e-procurement platform which is considered to be by far the best in the country. Ministry of commerce of government of India called us recently and has declared it as the best practise, various states have come to us for adapting it. We are the only one again with end to end contract management and catalogue management. There are some other areas where we are not the leaders and we are trying to get there and get our act together there as well. You mentioned about state governments coming up with incentives, can they replicate Bangalore's deep talent ecosystem? Can they replicate Bangalore's eco-system for start-ups and the conducive environment, can they replicate the weather and can they replicate a proactive government led by our chief minister who welcomes industry.

German consul-general in Bengaluru Jörn Rohde slammed the State government for being complacent.

All is not well in State, says German diplomat

Umesh M Avvannavar, BENGALURU: July 18, 2015, dhns:

After Bosch, Consul-General Rohde joins chorus

Days after auto component giant Bosch said it was contemplating on moving out of Karnataka for delay in approvals, German consul-general in Bengaluru Jörn Rohde slammed the State government for being complacent.

In a one-to-one conversation with Deccan Herald, Rohde said “not everything is okay with the Karnataka government”and that “there is big room for improvement”.

Rohde spoke on the sidelines of an event organised here by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) where the consul-general announced German-led initiative to support Indian SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

Taking a dig at the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) scheduled for November 23-25, the consul-general said getting existing companies to say this is a great place to invest “would be more convincing than handing out coloured brochures”.

Rohde’s statement comes just a month after Steffen Berns, India head of the €49-billion German giant Bosch, took the lectern at another business chamber-organised event (Bangalore Chambers of Industry and Commerce AGM) to announce that the company was thinking of ditching Karnataka.

Berns had lamented about Bosch facing issues despite its presence in the state for more than 60 years.

On Friday, the consul-general drew an even older connect for Germany, which was not working well.

‘History of association’
“Germany has a long history of association with Karnataka since World War II. But Pune is more dynamic than Bengaluru as far as manufacturing investments are concerned. My strong view I want to make here is this. Ten-years-ago Bengaluru had more German companies than Pune.

The number of German companies here is still growing, but Pune has 300 German companies compared with Bengaluru, which has just 180,”said Rohde.

The consul-general then spoke about Berns comment: “If you remember, Steffen Berns had given a speech a few weeks ago expressing dissatisfaction. I wish to say that not everything is okay with the Karnataka government...there is big room for improvement. But I still feel that Bengaluru is a happening place, there are lots of opportunities here. We should all work together and maybe we can come back to a situation where we were 10 years ago.”

When asked why German companies were opting for Pune, Rohde did not mince words when he said, “There is little bit of complacency in Karnataka. The time taken in Karnataka for approvals is more when compared with Maharashtra or even some other states. Investment decisions are made where parameters are the best. It shows that Pune is more dynamic than Bengaluru.”

Bangalore ranks 12th in list of world's top 20 tech-rich cities

By PTI | 6 Jul, 2015, 04.00PM IST

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Reinforcing the city's status of being one of India's premier technology centres, Bangalore figures at No. 12 in the Top 20 tech-rich cities globally.

NEW DELHI: Bangalore has been ranked 12th in the list of top 20 technology-rich cities in the world, according to a survey conducted by global property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). 

"Bangalore has helped India debut on the 'City Momentum Index' Top 20 list - an annual survey carried out by JLL globally. Reinforcing the city's status of being one of India's premier technology centres, Bangalore figures at No. 12 in the Top 20 technology-rich cities globally," JLL India Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri said in a statement. 

London, San Jose and Beijing are top three cities on the list. 

Good economic growth, investments in infrastructure, presence of startups and significant supply of prime office space are some of the factors that contributed in Bangalore's strong performance in the survey. 

Puri said the economic as well as real estate momentum in Bangalore has gained pace as tech-industry majors line up to enter the market or expand in the city. 

JLL said that its survey this year included new variables that reflect the importance of innovation to a city's competitiveness and dynamism. 

"Bangalore performs strongly on these measures, with its capacity for innovation leading to the largest number of international patent applications in India. An increase in the number of high-tech startups registered in the city over the past year has also helped boost Bangalore's score, reflecting its strengths in innovation and depth of venture capital funding," Puri said. 

Infrastructure investments such as Bangalore metro and a bus rapid transport system on the outer ring road, together with a rise in FDIprojects, have contributed to strong economic growth, which is expected to reach 8 per cent this year and make Bangalore among the fastest-growing major cities in the world, JLL said. 

The consultant said that the Bangalore's strong performance has also been boosted by some of world's highest levels of prime office space construction, absorption and rental increases. 

"Interestingly, Bangalore pipped other Asia Pacific cities in demand for office spaces. Robust demand for commercial space from the IT sector and associated IT-enabled services is helping boost absorption levels -- highest in the Asia Pacific region," JLL said. 

Construction is increasing to meet the demand generated by Bangalore's rapidly expanding economy. An increase of around 5-10 per cent in prime office rents will be seen in 2015. The city would add 12 million sq ft of office space in 2015-16. 

While outside the Top 20, Delhi and Mumbai are beginning to see an increase in momentum as economic growth picks up and demand for prime office space strengthens.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/bangalore-ranks-12th-in-list-of-worlds-top-20-tech-rich-cities/articleshow/47958523.cms