Crumbling Bangalore is Gandhinagar’s hope.

Bangalore, watch out, you may get Gandhinagar-ed
After Express series, we will do roadshow in B’lore: Gujarat
The Indian Express

Crumbling Bangalore is Gandhinagar’s hope.

The action has already begun. Following The Indian Express series on the collapsing infrastructure of India’s Silicon Valley, Gujarat’s top bureaucrats will fly down to Bangalore with power-point presentations to woo IT and biotech majors.

Chief Secretary P K Lahiri said, ‘‘The Indian Express has highlighted what Bangalore lacks. We are highlighting what Gujarat has and I think this is the right time. We will invite all IT and bio-tech firms in Bangalore to the Global Gujarat Investor Meet which begins on January 11. Now I feel before the investor meet we will have a curtain-raiser in Bangalore where we will make presentations about Gujarat’s excellent infrastructure facilities,’’ Lahiri said.

Senior officials including secretaries of industry, science and technology, will make closed-door presentations of what Gujarat has to offer to industry captains in Bangalore before inviting them to the Global Gujarat Investors Meet from January 11 to 14 at the Science City on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

TCS has already acquired land near Infocity near Gandhinagar and has plans to employ over 6,000 people. The government hopes more will follow.

Chief Secretary Lahiri said the government is finalising an action plan to attract firms which are facing infrastructure crisis in Bangalore and are already looking out.


The Gujarat package


• Excellent roads n Ahmedabad International Airport with direct flights to London, Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia
• Infocity and Gandhinagar have uninterrupted power supply from the Ahmedabad Electricity Company
• Kutch offers tax-holiday

‘‘A few months ago we had meetings with IT and bio-tech leaders including Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. Presentations were made on what Gujarat offers in infrastructure etc. We are making a renewed effort now,’’ he said. Principal Secretary, Industries, D Rajagopalan, added: ‘‘We are definitely in touch with a number of firms. This time we are inviting everyone to come to Gujarat.’’

Bangalore’s handicap, poor infrastructure, is Gandhinagar’s advantage. ‘‘What do we have to offer? Excellent facilities at Infocity. There is plenty of space available around Gandhinagar. We have a good international airport at Ahmedabad and given the good roads it is just an 18-minute drive from the airport to Infocity. Uninterrupted power and water supply in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad are our biggest advantage. Real estate prices and rents are low compared to Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Bangalore,’’ Lahiri said.

Secretary, Science and Technology, J N Singh, the man behind much of the initiative, is tightlipped. ‘‘I don’t want to reveal everything now. But I can tell you we have started talking to a lot of firms. Our strength is infrastructure which is definitely better and more efficient than Bangalore. That’s what we are selling,’’ he says.