Investors, politicians raise pet peeve at Karnataka summit

Bengaluru: The freshly laid hot mix of asphalt was still sweating off from Bengaluru roads when cars of some of the country’s top business honchos drove to ‘Bangalore Palace’ on Wednesday, the venue of ‘Invest Karnataka’, the state’s three-day global investor meet.

And as the summit began, what every other businessmen from Infosys’s Narayana Murthy to Wipro’s Azim Premji talked about was the infrastructure woes of Bengaluru. If anything, the summit did turn the focus from a conference meant to project the state as one of the most attractive investment destinations with its human resources, innovation and deep roots in science.

“Come invent, innovate in Karnataka. This is where the future of India will be created,” said R.V. Deshpande, industries minister who is behind Invest Karnataka 2016.

But as speakers shared their business experiences in the state, one aspect stood out. Traffic. Crippling traffic in the IT city became a focal point among investors and politicians, highlighting the lack of basic infrastructure hampering the growth of the country’s fastest growing city.

Ironically, the biggest investment of the day was towards bettering road infrastructure in the state. Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping announced ₹ 1 trillion investments over the next two years to build a better road network in Karnataka.

Bengaluru’s traffic was of particular interest among industry leaders like Azim Premji and Narayana Murthy, among others.

“If Karnataka accelerates investments in infrastructure, it can be the fastest growing state in the country,” said Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd. Premji, however, added that Bengaluru attracted some of the finest talent in the country despite its infrastructure bottle-necks.

“I request the state government to make the city liveable,” Murthy said.

Central ministers assured the state full support with measures to reduce traffic congestion in the city with metro, elevated roads and better public transport. Slow moving traffic and the ever increasing number of vehicle users in the city have brought down the average speed during peak hours to just 10km per hour. Unscientific road planning and poor road quality add to the problems.

Defending resistance to the city’s lack of better public transport, Union minister of urban development Venkaiah Naidu assured that plans were underway to ease congestion in the city.

“We are working together to ease congestion. There are four plans underway,” Naidu added, indicating further development of the metro in the capital.

Bengaluru, once a sleepy retirement city, has seen massive population explosion as a technology destination pushing the city to grow at the outskirts.

Bengaluru’s roads are asphalted with every VIP visit to the city. But the same courtesy has not been extended to the people who live and work here, a criticism the government and road authorities have faced time and again.

In addition, the city’s inability to find a permanent solution to deal with the recurring garbage crisis. Methods to solve solid waste management and sewerage problems are still the most relevant topics of discussion in a city that vies to be a global city and is dubbed to be India’s Silicon Valley.

Gadkari announced that investments will be made to add 4,000 kilometres of roadways connecting the state with ₹ 60,000 crore to be spent this fiscal. Gadkari too spoke about his “experience” with the city’s traffic.

It is not just Bengaluru that needs investment in terms of infrastructure in the state.

Lack of good roads and connectivity has also hampered the state’s effort to promote Tier II and III cities as cheaper and more lucrative alternative to Bengaluru.

Karnataka is promoting cities like Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore, Mangalore and Davangere to potential investors. But there have been few takers due to poor connectivity either by road or air.