Silicon Valley of India

Encyclopedia : S : SI : SIL : Silicon Valley of India

The birth of the term can began with the establishment of the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (KEONICS), a government owned agency aimed at expanding the electronics industry in the state of Karnataka, in 1976. In 1977, the agency purchased 335 acres of land 18 km south of Bangalore for its Electronics City project, which was meant to establish an industrial park in Bangalore. Notwithstanding complaints by the industrial park's tenants on the condition of the roads, power and water availability, KEONICS claimed initially that the title of Silicon Valley of India belonged to the city's Electronics City campus. As part of its promotion of this concept, KEONICS distributed reprints of an article entitled Can Bangalore become India's Silicon Valley" that first appreared in "Plus: The Total Computer Magazine".

The article made references to studies of Bangalore published by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that favourably evaluated Bangalore's capacity to grow into a high technology hub, similar to the Silicon Valley. The publication also published interviews with IT industry professionals on the state of the IT industry in Bangalore and their perceptions of what lay ahead in the future. Selected quotes from the interviews included:

If the Centre looks at Bangalore to be made into Silicon Valley, it would certainly become the Silicon Valley; If you are talking of a Silicon Valley kind of atmosphere, then Bangalore already has it, but if you are talking of a product a day, then we are far from it; Bangalore is certainly emerging as a software and R&D subcontracting centre for multinationals; It is not an unreasonable comparison to make between Bangalore city and Silicon Valley; Bangalore has the ingredients to become Silicon Valley... It is probably the only city in India that could become one.

The turn of the millenium witnessed the growth of internet based technologies which resulted in the dotcom boom. Bangalore's IT industry grew during this period with the establishment of local and foreign IT companies. In 2001, BusinessWeek published an article entitled "India's Silicon Valley" which traced the growth of the IT industry in India and particularly in Bangalore. The use of the term "Silicon Valley of India" to refer to Bangalore grew in local media and as time progressed, in international media too. An article entitled "Is the Next Silicon Valley Taking Root in Bangalore?" appeared in the New York Times in 2006Rai, Saritha. ["Is the Next Silicon Valley Taking Root in Bangalore?"]. The New York Times. 20 Mar. 2006 Indeed, some articles in the western media wondered if the original Silicon Valley would one day be functionally replaced by Bangalore Morphy, Erika. ["Bangalore Besting Silicon Valley?"]. 29 Jul. 2004

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