Bangalore-Industrial
developments post independence
As a city, Bangalore’s
history in the last six decades has undergone many changes. In the
post independence decades Bangalore was known as a Garden City of
retirees’ bunglows, and for a significant public sector presence,
as a large number of centrally owned public sector units as well as
state government owned enterprises were set up from the early to mid
nineteen fifties onwards. The city also saw the growth of several
premier scientific research institutions, set up by the central
government. Bangalore is the third most populous city in India and
the 18th most populous city in the world. Bangalore was the
fastest-growing Indian metropolis after New Delhi between 1991 and
2001, with a growth rate of 38% during the decade. The cosmopolitan
nature of the city has resulted in the migration of people from other
states to Bangalore.
During the British Raj,
Bangalore developed as a centre for colonial rule in South India. The
first train was flagged out of the city in 1859. And the lovely
Cubbon Park was built by Sankey in 1864. The establishment of the
Bangalore Cantonment brought in large numbers of migrants from Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and North India for developing and maintaining
the infrastructure of the cantonment.
Industrialisation-Phase
I
Bangalore
by the end of 20th century enjoyed certain advantages which laid the
foundation for further expansion of industry. It was the most
prominent trading centre located among 18 towns within 25 kilometres
radius. Cotton cultivation, sericulture, availability of- timber,
quality clay, etc, in the hinterland (Umland) of Bangalore had aided
the expansion of industry and trade in Bangalore over a period of
time. The infrastructure for industrialization that was already in
place was the availability of hydro-electric power. Apart from that
the overall industrial policy and state government’s assistance
made a great impact on the industrialization of the Bangalore Town.
What followed was the planned economic development. Bangalore was
already a place where modernization in many spheres, had become a
defining attribute of the city. Industrialization was central to
modernization process which was initiated and encouraged by the
Princely Mysore State. Given this backdrop Bangalore drew the
attention of policy makers at the National level. In one of the
visits to Bangalore, Bangalore City became the site for the planned
industrial development. The national policy channelized resources for
the development of public sector enterprises-large-scale heavy
industries.
Social
Space
In
terms of city-size, city-growth, and functional rank Bangalore city
held a primate position in the State of Karnataka, because none of
the town in State resembled its development, growth and expansion
pattern. In the first phase from 1951-1971, the city of Bangalore had
become an industrial city. During 1951-1961, 50% of the increase in
population was found in the ‘marginal areas’ of outer zone of the
city. The growth of population had high correlation with industrial
population. During the
decade
1961-71, the population increase in sub-urbs was 92%. In contrast,
the increase in the city was only 35%. Thus, the city’s sub-urbs
grew faster than the inner city, during the decade of 1961-71,
revealing the industrialization of the sub-urbs which had a total
population of 1, 13,038. The city had become a multifunctional city.
It reveals the industrialization of the outward moving city.
Phase-II
By
the mid 1970s, a new wave of industrialization was introduced to the
existing Industrial base. A new type of concentration of ‘sunrise
industries in high technology fields’ had been planned by Karnataka
State Government, to ‘generate the kind of synergy associated with
arena of innovation. This kind of state supported industrialization
gave a new driving factor to urbanization. The result was the
establishment of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation
(KEONICS) by Government of Karnataka’s department of medium and
large industries. Keeping intact the spirit of
mixed
economic style of development, the new corporation made entry into
production by setting up its own plants in alliance with Indian and
foreign companies. It also encouraged the private enterprises through
‘marketing support, and ran manpower training centres.’ In the
context of State-led industrialization, Government lacked capital and
the technological sophistication to start high-technology industries.
Government was mainly confronted with the problem of
under-accumulation. Under these circumstances Government played the
role of a facilitator by creating infrastructure and land, and by
allowing and aligning with the private sector to develop high
technologies in the electronics and ‘telematics’.
With
the new wave of industrialization, there was a new configuration of
space owing to high-technology industrialization. As a concomitant of
the IT industry there were new kinds of social spaces as domestic and
leisure life changed. ‘A conspicuous class of software
entrepreneurs has also emerged in Bangalore, running firms that have
made them instant multimillionaire producing a new transnational
elite of well-paid “infocrats”. Information technology parks came
up with a package of self-contained/self-sufficient civic amenities.
Construction of IT parks began in 1995, and the first phase was
completed in 1997. The IT park was inclusive of one high-rise
building for commercial space, another for office space, and a
six-floor building designed for light industrial production, all
faced with light reflective glass and polished stone high-rise
apartment blocks for 764 flats, complete with swimming pools and
tennis courts, and shopping areas plus a gymnasium. The expected
tenants to occupy this spaces were the transnational and Indian
companies engaged in research and development, education and
training, testing or manufacture in information technology fields.
The private investment proposals that have come to
Karnataka in the 1990s show a dominance of very large projects, most
of them in manufacturing industries. In relative terms, investment in
the software industry is not substantial. This does not imply that
software is an insignificant sector, but only that it is not as
capital intensive as some other industries. Nearly half of the
proposed investment is accounted for by companies already operating
in the state (expansions projects). Bangalore is now known as the
Silicon Valley of India because of the large number of information
technology companies located in the city which contributed 33% of
India's IT exports in 2006–07. Bangalore's IT industry is divided
into three main clusters - Software Technology Parks of India (STPI),
International Tech Park, Bangalore (ITPB) and Electronics City.
There are numerous
companies which have flourished in Bangalore, some of which are
Accenture(IT), Accord(IT), Acer(IT), Bosch(Non-IT),
Hyundai(Automobile), JCB(Automobile),etc
Prime
Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru said ‘Bangalore is very much a picture
of India of the future, more especially because of the concentration
of science, technology and industries in the public sector here'. And
yes, Nehru ji was right!
-
Amartya
Aishwarya
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