Focus on transforming Tumakuru into Silicon Valley: Piyush Goyal tells Karnataka minister

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on September 19 said that great cities have emerged over time, such as Silicon Valley, New York, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, all of which were products of a vision for the greater good.

He was responding to Karnataka commerce, industries and infrastructure minister MB Patil's reaction to his pitch for a new “Silicon Valley” in India. Patil took to social media and said, "Bengaluru is in India. India is our country. Bengaluru wasn’t built in a day; it took decades, even centuries, to build Bengaluru."

"You can build structures, roads, and infrastructure but an ecosystem takes decades to develop. Bengaluru is the hub of India’s knowledge ecosystem."

Reacting to this, Goyal further said, "Silicon Valley in Bengaluru is suffering from the state government's failure to provide logistics support, quality infrastructure, and good roads, while the Central government continues to support the state, including the development of an industrial township in Tumakuru under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. The Hon’ble Minister @MBPatil ji and his Congress government should focus on transforming Tumakuru into a Silicon Valley rather than undermining India’s progress."

Patil's comments had come a day after the Union commerce and industry minister had proposed a dedicated township for startups and disruptors. “We should aspire to have our own Silicon Valley. I know Bengaluru prides itself on being the Silicon Valley of India but we should also start thinking about partnering with the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) to create new townships for entrepreneurs, startups, innovators, and disruptors,” Goyal had said.

People with ideas should be able to land in these townships and find ways to build connections for the implementation of their ideas, he added

Patil urged Goyal "to use his office to help further our own 'Namma Bengaluru' as a global city, and to assist in making KHIR a “massive global destination”.

The Karnataka government’s ambitious Knowledge, Healthcare, Innovation, and Research (KHIR) City is likely to come up between Dabaspet and Doddaballapur, around 60 km from Bengaluru.

The state aims to attract Rs 40,000 crore in investments in the healthcare, innovation, and knowledge sectors, creating 80,000 jobs in the proposed KHIR City.

The city would focus on key sectors such as mobility, semiconductors and advanced materials, aerospace, defence and space technology, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing, the government has claimed.

The Congress-ruled Karnataka and the NDA-led Centre have had their share of differences, with the state claiming it isn’t getting its fair share of funds from the Union government.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah has written to his counterparts in eight states, including four in the south, to get together to negotiate a better financial deal with the Centre.