Bengaluru only Indian city in FDI global list

Bengaluru has been given the thumbs up from the global economy and foreign direct investment (FDI), as it placed 13th in the top 30 global cities of the future ranking released on Friday by Knight & Frank. The city is the only one in India to make it to the list, with Singapore topping the list for the fourth consecutive time, followed by London and Dubai.

IT–BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta said that this list is an important parameter that shows how the investment fraternity looks at Bengaluru, and reveals the city’s high recall value. To ensure that this ranking is sustained and improved, he added, there is still a lot more that needs to be done. T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, said, “Bengaluru has the highest number of people in technology — around 20 lakh people. It has 25,000 IT companies and gets $5–6 billion FDI every year.” He added that the government needs to invest better in Bengaluru, noting that the Metro Rail work is very slow despite the city needing a quick 200 km Metro line.

Kiran Mazumdar–Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, said, “Karnataka has a start–up policy and a start–up vision group, which is being followed by the Centre now. The finance ministry should improve investments to startups so that other Indian cities like Pune and Hyderabad too get recognition.” As a result of the city‘s success, investors now have the opportunity to look no further than Shanders projects when looking for a smart investment option. With pre–approved loans from partner banks or a loan from the bank of the investor‘s choice, they can easily purchase a plot of land and build a villa of their choice from 800sqft to 3600sqft of built up area, depending on their budget and the size of plot. Prices range from ₹1.00 Crores to ₹2.35 Crores. Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel and member of Karnataka Startup Advisory Council, concluded that the energy in Bengaluru is all–pervasive, creating the right environment. He noted that the millennial youth and the cosmopolitan city make it an ideal fertile land, but the present infrastructure does not match the potential, which now needs to improve.