Bangalore to Lose the IT capital Tag: survey
Bangalore, Jun 1 (Express News): Bangalore, that boasted its tag of the country's IT capital, may now lose it, according to a survey.
A survey undertaken by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), warning of this imminent threat, says the status would soon belong to the National Capital Region (NCR) of Noida and Gurgaon as more companies have expressed their interest in setting up shop there.
This would include IT, IT-enabled services (ITes), business process outsourcing (BPO), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and other areas of operations.
According to the report, the agency cited that "crumbling infrastructure" is one of the main causes for this trend. It has also said that companies are moving towards more "convenient and industrial-friendly centres".
Justifying their findings, Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said, "The growth explosion in Bangalore has pushed the city towards serious civic issues." He further attributed the problems to power shortages, inadequate and unreliable water supply, heavy traffic, roads and also poor sanitation facilities.
Identifying these issues as the main problems, he further states that Gurgaon and Noida have, on the contrary, been growing rapidly against and increasing their odds.
The forum stated that they interacted with around 800 CEOs, CFOs and managing directors of both Indian and multinational companies.
The forum stated that the survey was conducted in five cities where they saw the best advantage to operate from. Assocham claims that nearly 30 per cent evinced interest in moving to Gurgaon, while another 25 per cent were willing to move to Noida. About 20 per cent wished to shift to Chandigarh, 15 per cent to Pune and 10 per cent to Hyderabad, their report stated.
"Gurgaon's cosmopolitan culture, modern infrastructure, availability of skilled workforce and closeness to Delhi, along with industry-friendly government policies are the factors which give it an edge over Bangalore city," Rawat said.