Bengaluru, the capital city of the South Indian state of Karnataka, India. The economy of Bengaluru contributes over 43.65% to the economy of the State[1] of Karnataka, accounting for 98% of the Software Exports of the State.
Bengaluru, often referred to as the "Silicon Valley of India," has an economic base rooted in the Information Technology (IT), Biotechnology, Aerospace, Telecommunications, Electronics, and manufacturing sectors, contributing significantly to Karnataka's GDP. The city is also emerging as India's major hub for Electric vehicle (EV)innovation and manufacturing, housing several startups and global giants focusing on EV design, battery technology, and infrastructure. Other significant industries include education, healthcare, real estate, and automotive. Additionally, Bengaluru is a global hotspot for Global Capability Centers (GCCs), housing over 40% of India's GCCs. These centers, established by multinational corporations, leverage Bengaluru's tech-savvy workforce, advanced infrastructure, and robust innovation ecosystem to manage critical operations, including R&D, IT support, finance, and customer services. The city is home to GCCs for companies across diverse industries such as technology, banking, retail, and healthcare. Prominent firms like Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Shell operate large-scale GCCs in Bengaluru, driving global innovation and operational efficiency. The presence of these centers has significantly contributed to the city’s reputation as a preferred destination for offshore innovation and strategic business support. Bangalore's skilled talent pool, with over 2 million IT professionals, combined with its world-class infrastructure and startup ecosystem, creates a symbiotic relationship that fuels the growth of GCCs. The city's GCC sector not only supports global operations but also fosters the development of cutting-edge technologies in AI, machine learning, and data analytics, reinforcing its position as a critical player in global business strategies. This growth is further complemented by Bengaluru's thriving industries in information technology, EV manufacturing, aerospace, and biotechnology, making it a comprehensive hub for global and domestic economic activities. With nearly 40% of India's startup ecosystem based here, Bangalore remains a vibrant innovation center. Industries like education, healthcare, real estate, and automotive thrive alongside traditional sectors such as silk and garment production. Strategic infrastructure like Kempegowda International Airport, Electronics City, and Whitefield further bolsters the city's economic prominence.[5]
The establishment and success of high technology firms in Bangalore have led to the growth of Information Technology (IT) in India. As of 2020, IT firms in Bengaluru employed about 3.5 million employees in the IT and IT-enabled services (ITES)/BPM sectors, out of nearly 4.4 million employees across India,[6][7] and accounted for the highest IT-related exports in the country.[citation needed] In 2014, Bangalore contributed US$45 billion, or 38% of India's total IT exports.[8]
One of the important factors spurring Bengaluru's growth was heavy state government investment (and its environment) in Bangalore's public sector industries which is what makes it so developed and rich.
According to the Bangalore Innovation Report, with projected GDP growth of 8.5%, Bangalore will be the world's fastest growing city until 2035.[9]
The headquarters of Infosys, India's second largest IT company, is located in Bangalore
The earliest startups that were launched in the city in the 1990s include Infosys, Wipro Technologies, and Mindtree being popular ones and smaller ones include Tejas Networks. Flipkart, having originated in Bengaluru, acquired several other e-commerce companies like Myntra, and was eventually acquired by Walmart in 2018 for close to $20 Billion. Startup companies such as Swiggy, Ola Cabs, InMobi, Quikr, and RedBus are also based in the city.
Bengaluru is also called the aviation monopoly capital of India. It accounts for more than 65% of India's aerospace business. World Aerospace giants such as Boeing, Airbus, Dynamatics, Honeywell, GE Aviation, UTL, others have their Research & Development and Engineering centres.
Before Bengaluru was called the Silicon Valley of India, the city made its name as headquarters to some of the largest public sector companies of India such as NGEF, BEML, BEL, BHEL etc. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) headquarters is in Bangalore, and is dedicated to research and development activities for indigenous fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force. With over 9,500 employees, it is one of the largest public sector employers in Bengaluru.
The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is also headquartered in Bengaluru and is dedicated to the development of civil aviation technologies. Incorporated in 1960, NAL often works in conjunction with the HAL and has a staff strength of over 1,300 employees. NAL also investigates aircraft malfeasance.
Biocon, headquartered in Bangalore, is one of India's largest biotechnology companies.
Biotechnology is a rapidly expanding field in the city. Bengaluru accounts for at least 97 of the approximately 240 biotechnology companies in India. Interest in Bengaluru as a base for biotechnology companies stems from Karnataka's comprehensive biotechnology policy, described by the Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology.[18] In 2003–2004, Karnataka attracted the maximum venture capital funding for biotechnology in the country – $8 million. Biocon, headquartered in Bengaluru, is the nation's leading biotechnology company and ranks 16th in the world in revenues.
Like the software industry which initially drew most of its workforce from the local public sector engineering industries, the biotechnology industry had access to talent from the National Center of Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Bengaluru is also becoming a destination for the automotive industry. Volvo and many other auto suppliers have manufacturing plants in Bangalore.
Bengaluru houses many small and medium scale industries in its Peenya industrial area that claimed to be one of the biggest in Asia 30-years ago; newly including Apple's India manufacturing plant – the only active plant in the world outside of China.[19]
Other sectors
The city has several types of entrepreneurial pursuits that have shaped it along the way from the early '90s. The city is known for several restaurateurs who innovated on fast service models commonly called Darshini restaurants that served hot breakfast and beverages. Orkla Foods, the Norwegian foods company bought MTR Foods, traditional ready-to-eat consumer goods brand in 2007 for approximately $60m.[20] A recent $100m brand is ID foods, fast becoming popular in retail. Swiggy an on-demand food delivery Unicorn is popular along with Zomato, a restaurant review, listing and food delivery business, that initially started in Bangalore. FreshMenu is a near-unicorn cloud kitchen business that only delivers via mobile apps and other on-demand food apps. Cafe Coffee Day, a listed entity is a coffee store chain with stores in Prague, Bratislava, Riga and Warsaw. Chai Point is a chain of tea stores founded in Bangalore in 2010.
Several Venture Capital funded startups like housing.com, nestaway, nobroker, commonfloor.com (acquired by the Unicorn, Quikr) are disrupting the rental marketplace in India. Several listed real estate brands have their origins in the city like Prestige Group, Brigade Enterprises, Total Environment and Sobha Developers.
India's largest indigenous OEM, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had its headquarters in India. Several smaller tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers had their base in the city to serve the OEM need. The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is also headquartered in Bangalore and is dedicated to the development of civil aviation technologies. Bangalore also housed now-defunct full-service airline brand Kingfisher Airlines, which acquired another airline startup, Air Deccan, a budget airline.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), one of the top national space agencies in the world is headquartered in the city. ISRO is recognized world over for its indigenous capabilities in launching low cost satellites using its own launch vehicles, the PSLV and the GSLVs. ISRO has a record of deploying 104 satellites in orbits successfully in a single launch, which is a world record.[21] ISRO has also launched a Mars mission, which was the lowest cost inter-planetary orbital mission. Startups have made attempts to launch lunar rovers and are analysing satellite images to uses in agriculture and climate.
Bangalore is the home of India's first electric car brand, Reva was acquired by a large domestic car company, Mahindra & Mahindra. Several startups in automotive services, marketplaces are situated in the city. On-demand taxi service, Ola Cabs, a Unicorn, originated in the city and acquired its early competition and peer, taxiforsure. Bounce is an on-demand motorbike startup that originated in the city. Car rental companies operating in the city includes Avis, Carzonrent, Hype Luxury Mobility, Mylescars, Revvcar and Zoomcar. Zoomcar is on demand inter city car transportation startup running out of the city. RedBus is an intercity bus aggregator that was bought by Naspers group.
BigBasket.com, Zopnow.com and Zopper.com, started in on-demand grocery and compete with Amazon's Prime Now platform. Offline, formal retail format grocers originating from the city include FoodWorld supermarkets that started in 1996 and several other local brands.
Urban Ladder is a leading omnichannel commerce furniture retailer founded by entrepreneurs from the city. Lifestyle, now part of Dubai-based Landmark group originated as a brand in Bangalore in 1999. Tanishq is a jewelry retail store brand and is owned by the Tata Group. Printo is a chain of stationery and printing services stores.
Several fintechs have their origins in the city. The revolutionary low-cost brokerage firm Zerodha, several cryptocurrency exchanges. Pine Labs is a recent unicorn that builds POS systems. Capillary Technologies is a loyalty, analytics provider built over POS systems. QwikCilver, a gifting and loyalty platform founded in Bangalore was acquired by Amazon.[22]
The city is known for its craft breweries, popular ones being Toit, Arbor Brewing Company and others. Kingfisher is one of the world's largest beer brands that originated in Bangalore. Amrut is India's first Single Malt Whisky brand that is sold all over the world and was named as the number three whisky in the world in 2010. United Breweries Group has its headquarters in Bangalore. It produces Kingfisher (beer).
Dr. Devi Shetty, a renowned Cardiac surgeon started the chain of Narayana Health hospitals that listed on the Indian Stock Markets in 2018
Biocon is one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies which also owns a majority stake in India's largest Clinical Research Outsourcing (CRO) company Syngene International that works with global pharmaceutical majors. Strides Arcolab manufactures pharma products for emerging markets and is a listed entity in the Indian Stock Markets. The Himalaya Drug company makes several pharma and beauty care products and is headquartered in Bangalore.
Wildcraft, a fast-growing outdoor adventure goods company was founded in the city. Zivame is an online commerce lingerie company fast growing into the number 1 brand in India.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, a listed business, is a popular hospital chain that was built by renowned Bangalore cardiac surgeon. Portea Medical and Practo are some of the fast-growing startups in the space. Cloud Nine is a chain of fast-growing maternity and childcare brands founded in the city in 2007.
ISRO launch of the Mars Orbital Mission using the PSLV launch vehicle
DTDC is an asset light logistics company built by first generation entrepreneurs in the city.
Lucia is a Kannada movie that is renowned as India's first crowdsourced movie. The movie was extensively shot in Bengaluru.
There are many sports facility aggregators where consumers can book indoor courts or swimming pool slots like Playo. Many entrepreneurs are setting up sports facilities due to higher interest in fitness. There is a fitness chain called CureFit, invested in by early entrepreneurs and restaurants attached like EatFit.
Many wine yards are springing up around the city due to interest among a globally aware community of people residing in the city. Bangalore is also India's largest export of roses, about 70% of all rose exports come from the city.
Samsung Electronics in 2018, opened Largest Mobile Experience Centre in the World at Bengaluru's Iconic Opera House. Samsung Opera House will be a must-do destination for the city's millennials looking for exciting tech-enabled experiences and entertainment. One will be able to enjoy VR experiences such as the 4D Sway Chair or the Whiplash Pulsar 4D chair that makes 360 degrees three-dimensional movements. One can slip into the role of a fighter pilot doing extreme aircraft stunts, or experience a space battle, or a roller coaster ride. The 33,000 sq ft standalone property, which during the British era hosted plays and Operas, has been restored over two years and its facade continues to don its magnificent original look and feel. On the inside, a modern experiential space has been developed with extensive use of modern technology.
There are several economic clusters, as in many cities in the world, in the city.
Chickpete area is known for textile trades and early entrepreneurs in the city
Shivajinagar area houses auto spares and services clusters
Whitefield was a neighboring town to Bangalore, but over time has been assimilated into the city. Whitefield houses several Information Technology Parks and many global firms have their India headquarters located in the area.
Koramangala and JP Nagar have traditionally been the area where tech startups take birth
Electronics City houses all the major IT service providers of India
Government incentives and programs
Tax holiday for IT services: The Government of Karnataka was the first state government to introduce a tax holiday for IT service companies to set up shop in the city to earn a decade-long corporate tax holiday to incentivize the industry.
IT SEZ program: Server IT Special economic Zones are now set up where they receive a corporate tax holiday if offices are situated in those zones.
Ministry of IT: One of the early states in India to have a Ministerial position for Information Technology. This was created to address the issues faced by the industry in terms of physical and digital infrastructure, and supply of graduates.
Adoption of Technology in Government programs: Multiple government initiatives have included digitization of citizen programs and Karnataka has been at the forefront of adoption of technology. The Regional Transport Office in the city are fully computerized and they the earliest to do so. Bangalore also achieved full computerization of the Indian Passport Distribution process, first in the country.
The digital office of the Income Tax Department of India is based in Bangalore. The need for the build of systems to collect and refund taxes for millions of citizens and need for data analytics and AI to prevent fraud meant that Bangalore city was an obvious choice for the same.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Bengaluru (Bangalore). Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. HAL began aircraft manufacturing as early as 1942 with licensed production of Harlow PC-5, Curtiss P-36 Hawk and Vultee A-31 Vengeance for the Indian Air Force. HAL currently has 11 dedicated Research and development (R&D) centres and 21 manufacturing divisions under 4 production units spread across India. HAL is managed by a board of directors appointed by the President of India through the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. In 2024, the company was given Maharatna status. HAL is currently involved in the designing and manufacturing of fighter jets, helicopters, jet engine and marine gas turbine engine, avionics, hardware development, spares supply, overhauling and upgrading of Indian military aircraft.
Aero India is a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, India, at the Yelahanka Air Force Station. It is organised by the Defence Exhibition Organisation, Ministry of Defence.
The Indian state of Telangana has a 31% share of software export in India. While the majority of the industry is concentrated in Hyderabad, other cities are also becoming significant IT destinations in the state. Hyderabad houses the largest campuses of tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple outside of the US. In Hyderabad, the central region of the business happens in Financial District, HITECH City, the Madhapur suburb, Kokapet SEZ (Neopolis) and Salarpuria Sattva Knowledge City. As of 2023, Hyderabad has 9,05,715 employees in the IT/ITES sector, working in more than 1500 companies. The number of startups in Telangana had increased from 400 in 2016 to 2,000 in 2022. Hyderabad added two companies in unicorn startup list in first two months of 2022.
Bengaluru is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is India's third largest city and fifth largest metropolitan area. Modern Bengaluru was founded in 1537 CE by Kempe Gowda, a vassal of the Vijayanagara Empire. Kempe Gowda built a mud fort in the vicinity of modern Bengaluru. By 1831, the city was incorporated into the British Raj with the establishment of the Bangalore Cantonment. The British returned dominion of the city to the King of Mysore, choosing however, to retain jurisdiction over the cantonment. Therefore, Bengaluru essentially became a twin city, with civic and infrastructural developments of the cantonment conforming to European styles of planning.
The economy of South India after independence in 1947 conformed to a socialist framework, with strict governmental control over private sector participation, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). Through 1960s–1990s, South Indian economies experienced mixed economic growth. In the 1960s, Kerala achieved above-average economic growth, while Andhra Pradesh's economy declined during this period. Similarly, Kerala experienced an economic decline in the 1970s while the economies of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka consistently exceeded national average growth rates after 1970. South India first started to overtake the rest of India economically in the 1980s. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were noted by some to be more reform-oriented in terms of economic policy when compared to other Indian states. Over the last decade South India has grown at 8% annually. Future savings may be negatively impacted by a growth in an aging population in South Indian states, as the aging population will require more money for healthcare expenses. However, this will not severely impact state domestic product as India's overall population is also expected to decline. Today, South India has about 20% of India's population, and contributes about 31% of India's GDP; it is projected to contribute 35% by 2030.
The economy of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the Indian state of Kerala, mostly consists of tourism and leisure, information technology, rubber plantations, coffee production, tea production, and education. There are many manufacturers, such as Travancore Titanium Products Ltd and English Indian Clays.
Karnataka is one of the highest economic growth states in India with an expected GSDP growth of 9.5% in the 2021–22 fiscal year. The total expected GSDP of Karnataka in 2022–2023 is about $240 billion. Karnataka recorded the highest growth rates in terms of GDP and per capita GDP in the last decade compared to other states. In 2008–09, the tertiary sector contributed the most to GSDP, followed by the secondary sector, and the primary sector.
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence electronics company, headquartered in Bangalore. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for ground and aerospace applications. BEL is one of sixteen PSUs under the administration of Ministry of Defence of India. It has been granted Navratna status by the Government of India.
Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2020 the GDP (PPP) of the Chennai metropolitan area is $219 billion with an urban population of 1.09 crore.
Senapathy “Kris” Gopalakrishnan is an Indian businessman and the chairman of Axilor Ventures, a startup accelerator. He is one of the co-founders of Infosys, having served as its CEO and managing director from 2007 to 2011 and vice chairman from 2011 to 2014.
The information technology (I.T.) industry in India comprises information technology services and business process outsourcing. The share of the IT-BPM sector in the GDP of India is 7.4% in FY 2022. The IT and BPM industries' revenue is estimated at US$ 245 billion in FY 2023. The domestic revenue of the IT industry is estimated at $51 billion, and export revenue is estimated at $194 billion in FY 2023. The IT–BPM sector overall employs 5.4 million people as of March 2023. In December 2022, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha informed that IT units registered with state-run Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Special Economic Zones have exported software worth Rs 11.59 lakh crore in 2021–22.
Chennai is the third largest software exporter in India, next only to Bangalore and Hyderabad. India's largest IT park is housed at Chennai. Software exports from Tamil Nadu during 2017–2018 rose 8.8% per cent to touch 1,11,179 crore, involving a workforce of 780,000, and the city is the hub for deep tech startup companies. Many software and software services companies have development centres in Chennai, which contributed 14 percent of India's total software exports of ₹ 14,42,140 lakh during 2006–07, making it the third largest Indian city software exporter following Bangalore, Hyderabad and the city is the home for 7 top rated IT companies out of 15 in India. The Tidel Park in Chennai was billed as Asia's largest IT park when it was built. Major software companies have their offices set up here, with some of them making Chennai their largest base. Chennai is the largest hub for e-publishing, as there are 67 e-publishing units registered with the STPI and many Rs.8300-Cr data centers, digital hubs are in the process of development. A major reason for the growth of the Software industry are the top engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is a major contributor, have been a major recruiting hub for the IT firms. According to estimates, these engineering colleges and universities consistently generate about 50 per cent of the human resource requirements for the IT and ITES industry was being sourced from the state, particularly from Chennai. The total employment in the Tamil Nadu’s technology sector crossed the one million mark in the quarter ended June 2022.
The economy of Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, India, is based on traditional manufacturing, the knowledge sector and tourism. Starting in the 1990s, the economic pattern of the city changed from a primary service hub to a more diversified economy, but the service industry still remains a major contributor. As of 2006, the largest employers of Hyderabad are the governments of Andhra Pradesh and India, with 113,000 and 85,000 employees, respectively.
Kunnath Puthiyaveettil Padmanabhan Nambiar DIC (Lond), FIEE (Lond), CEngg (Lond.), more popularly known as K.P.P. Nambiar, was an Indian industrialist and technocrat, known for his work in the field of industrial development and technology. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India for his contributions to the field of technology in 2006.
Bengaluru, formerly called Bangalore in English, is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 15 million, making it India's third most populous city and fourth most populous urban agglomeration. It is the most populous city and largest urban agglomeration in South India, and is the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bengaluru has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation of India's "Garden City". Its elevation is the highest of India's major cities.
Ramadas Panemangalore Shenoy was an Indian defence scientist and writer, known for his contributions in the field of radar technology. He secured a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined Defence Research and Development Organization in 1961, involving himself with the indigenous development of radar technology till his retirement, as a Distinguished Scientist, in 1989.
Biotechnology in India is a sunrise sector within the Indian economy. Agencies of the Government of India concerned with the biotechnology industry include the Department of Biotechnology and the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India. As of 2022, the sector is valued at $80 billion. Biotechnology in India is in a growth phase and the sector is expected to be valued at $150 billion by 2025 and surpass $300 billion in value by 2030.
In the early twenty-first century; foreign investment, government regulations and incentives promoted growth in the Indian electronics industry. The semiconductor industry, which is its most important and resource-intensive sector, profited from the rapid growth in domestic demand. Many industries, including telecommunications, information technology, automotive, engineering, medical electronics, electricity and solar photovoltaic, defense and aerospace, consumer electronics, and appliances, required semiconductors. However, as of 2015, progress was threatened by the talent gap in the Indian sector, since 65 to 70 percent of the market was dependent on imports.
Priyank Mallikarjun Kharge is an Indian politician from Indian National Congress and serving as the Cabinet Minister in the Government of Karnataka. He is 3 time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Chittapur Constituency in Kalaburagi District of Karnataka.
Centum Electronics Limited is an Indian electronics system design and manufacturing company. The company produces subsystems and microelectronics, and provides system integration services. The company was incorporated in January 1993 and is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Centum has a presence in 6 countries. It has manufacturing facilities, design, and sales and support teams in India, Canada, and France, a design team in Belgium, and sales and support teams in the United Kingdom and the United States. The company's British subsidiary, Centum Electronics UK Ltd., services all European customers except those in France.
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