Residents must fuel Hubballi's growth: Mohandas Pai

HUBBALLI: Hubballi city has necessary potential to grow as a second metro city in Karnataka, but the onus is on locals to unitedly put pressure on elected representatives and officials to ensure the same, said Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education.
Sharing his views at 'Evening with Legends', organised as part of Development Dialogue-2020 here on Saturday evening, he said many entrepreneurs have been urging the government to develop Hubballi as another IT city in the state, but to no avail. "Even a group of IT entrepreneurs and enthusiasts was formed here, but it did not get local support. Locals should own up and help develop Hubballi," he said.
Endorsing the same, Ajai Chowdhry, founder of HCL, said many positive things are happening in Hubballi in recent years, thanks to the initiatives of Deshpande Foundation. "I would like to contribute to develop entrepreneurship here," he said.
Recalling the history of Vijaynagar (the erstwhile kingdom in Ballari), mentor Rajeev said it was the second-largest city in the country in the 15th century. "Hubballi, which is close to Vijaynagar, can be developed as the second city on the lines of Pune or Nagpur in Maharashtra," he said.
Former IPS officer Annamalai also spoke. Gururaj Deshpande, co-founder of Deshpande Foundation, moderated the session.