The Accidental Silicon Valley ; Yes, the Traffic Sucks Big Time, but in a Flat World Bangalore Is Still Back Office Central.

Summary

---

If no one told you so, you'd have trouble believing that Regent Park is in Bangalore, not San Jose. Two-storey town houses built with sloping roof and manicured lawns dot either side of wide, tree- lined streets. Kids are playing catch against a setting sun and neighbours, some of them just back from work, have stopped for a quick chat. Inside this high-security, gated complex, you hear none of the city's noisy traffic or inhale any of its noxious fumes. This is a piece of Americana recreated in the heart of Bangalore's tech nerve centre, Whitefield. "These communities offer security and a getaway from the madness that is Bangalore," quips Arjun Kalyanpur, a resident and radiologist, who returned from the us four years ago and set up a one-man teleradiology practice that today employs 90 people and has plans of moving into a nearby tech park.

Kalyanpur and Regent Park symbolise the information technology boom that over the last 10 years has transformed Bangalore from a sleepy, retiree-city into the epicentre of global offshoring. There are more than 2,000 companies registered with the Software Technology Park of India (STPI), and dozens more open shop every month. Over the last five months alone, 147 companies have opened in the city, including Target, Fidelity, RSA Securities and Financial Objects. The city pulls in Rs 37,600 crore in export earnings every year from it alone-that's 37 per cent of the industry exports. An estimated 2.1 lakh people work in the industry, making it the first port of call for any foreign company wanting to set up an India back office.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

The Accidental Silicon Valley ; Yes, the Traffic Sucks Big Time, but in a Flat World Bangalore Is Still Back Office Central.

But truth be told, Bangalore never expected, much less prepared, to be India's Silicon Valley. Even as its IT industry (followed by biotechnology) continued to expand at a breakneck pace, the city's infrastructure stood still. More cars and motorbikes poured on to the roads, but the roads themselves remained as narrow as before; fancy new residential and commercial complexes got built, but the city's power generation capacity wasn't increased. With the result,...

See the full content of this document

---