Tech firms will stay put in Bengaluru: Bommai

BENGALURU: After a media report that IT and BT companies may move out of Bengaluru, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday expressed confidence that they will stay put as the city has an edge over other places in terms of  skilled technical manpower.

“I want to tell you that Bengaluru is a base for technical skill with nice culture and weather. Companies will not move out, but will come over here from other places of the country,” he said in the state assembly.
He said Bengaluru has an edge over other cities as public sector units here have been advancing technology in collaboration with research institutions during the seventies. Many PSUs in Bihar got defunct whereas in Karnataka they have survived, he pointed out.

“The credit should go to our people as the companies have been benefiting from the applications of technological innovations. Our duty is to safeguard that legacy,” he said.He, however, clarified that the drive to clear encroachments from storm water drains will continue.

“Many IT and BT companies do not have their own buildings and builders who had developed tech parks encroached upon storm water drains. There will be no compromise with them as the drive to clear the encroachments will continue,” he said.

The New Indian Express had highlighted the concerns of various industry associations in its report ‘Infra woes may force firms out of B’luru, says India Inc’ on Monday. Revenue Minister R Ashoka pointed out that former Infosys director T V Mohandas Pai had also said that 80 per cent of Bengaluru is safe. Leader of opposition Siddaramaiah disputed this and asked Ashoka to take note of what Zerodha founder Nitin Kamath had said about Bengaluru and the solutions he had offered to tackle flooding.

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