“Bye-bye Bengaluru means bye-bye Bharat. This statement is ill-thought and ill-conceived. Where is ‘Make in India’ happening, where is ‘Skill India’ happening, where are the startups happening? They should answer this first,” Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge told News18.
The Congress leader was criticising union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s proposal to create a new township to inspire a “new Silicon Valley” in India.
Goyal at an event in New Delhi suggested the establishment of a new township focused on startups and innovation.
“We should aim higher and create our own Silicon Valley. While Bengaluru is known as India’s Silicon Valley, it’s time to consider working with the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) to build a special township for entrepreneurs, startups, innovators, and disruptors,” Goyal said.
Kharge strongly countered this statement, questioning whether the Centre was trying to create a north-south divide, given southern India, particularly Karnataka, has successfully built India’s IT and BT infrastructure model over the past 40 years.
He also highlighted Bengaluru’s contributions to India’s IT exports, urging Goyal to examine the data. The Karnataka minister pointed out that Bengaluru accounts for 65 per cent of aerospace and defence, 21 per cent of the national bioeconomy, and that of the $360 billion in unicorns, $180 billion are from Bengaluru. The city is also home to 45 foreign unicorns and contributes over 10 per cent of the country’s electronics output, making it the world’s fourth-largest cluster.
Kharge also criticised the decision to send the semiconductor ecosystem to Gujarat, asking, “Is there an ecosystem there at all? Four out of five preferred Karnataka to Gujarat, yet they were forced to go to Gujarat, and one was pushed to Assam. Now you dare say ‘bye-bye Bengaluru?’,” he said.
Goyal had earlier mentioned that the proposed “new Silicon Valley” could be built on 500 acres, where a community fostering innovation and startups could thrive. He gave the example of people travelling to Mumbai for job opportunities, suggesting a similar hub for entrepreneurs.
“As a minister, isn’t he responsible for Bengaluru as well? With such a mature ecosystem in Bengaluru, isn’t he also responsible for fostering it, while simultaneously creating opportunities elsewhere? Why can’t they adopt Bengaluru’s education, skill, research and development, and startup models and replicate them?” Kharge questioned.
Goyal reiterated the idea of creating a dedicated township for startups, stating that it’s time to explore partnerships with NICDC to establish such an ecosystem.
Karnataka’s commerce, industries, and infrastructure minister MB Patil also responded, saying, “Bengaluru is in India…India is our country. Bengaluru wasn’t built in a day; it took decades, even centuries, to build Bengaluru,” Patil wrote on social media platform X. “You can build structures, roads, and infrastructure, but an ecosystem takes decades to develop. Bengaluru is the hub of India’s knowledge ecosystem.”
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