Bangalore's GDP zooms past other metros

Bangalore's GDP zooms past other metros
2008-02-02 12:14:28 Source : CNBC-TV18


You may be stuck in traffic but Bangalore is not. Bangalore is the fastest metro. No we are not looking at the speedometer of your car. We are talking about economic growth.





The country's IT hotbed has zoomed past the other metros with a growth rate of 10.3 percent to become the fastest growing region in terms of economic prosperity. That’s according to a study released by research firm - Indicus Analytics that calculates GDP figures at district and city-levels.



Bangalore recorded the highest growth over the last 7 fiscal years. The rest of the urban regions saw a growth rate of less than nine percent.



It was the highest in the south too, ahead of Hyderabad and Chennai by almost 4 percent. in fact the closest was Coimbatore which registered a growth of 7.8%



The credit for Bangalore's stellar numbers goes to the i-t industry that continues to boom.



" I don't think there is a parallel to the ecosystem in Bangalore. Its not roads and metro it's the entire ecosystem starting from schools to colleges to institutions its only Bangalore that can give that ecosystem that it requires" says MN Vidyashankar, IT Secretary, Karnataka.





Bangalore continues to reap the benefits of an aggressive state government that has been quick to clear investments worth Rs 100000 crore in IT and ITES in the last 5 months.





But it’s not all-good news. Economists in the city fear that if physical infrastructure does not improve drastically Bangalore may begin to lose out to competition and will not be able to sustain its double-digit growth.





" Over the next 3-5 years if they do not act on the transport infrastructure they will lose their edge" adds Rupa Chanda, Prof-eco & social sciences, IIM (B)




So the good times may not last as increasing costs of real estate and skilled manpower may make Bangalore lose its top spot.