The first day of 25th edition (silver jubilee edition) of the Bengaluru Tech Summit was marked by much fanfare. While Minister Nardendra Modi praised Bengaluru as the home of technology and thought leadership, and called it an inclusive and innovative city, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai announced the setting up of six new high-tech cities in the state. During the summit, Australian Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts announced the opening of the new joint Australia-India Centre of Excellence for Critical and Emerging Technology Policy in Bengaluru.
Modi, while addressing the summit, said India is no longer known for red tapism, but is being hailed as a country that offers a red carpet welcome to investors. “Whether it is FDI reforms or liberalisation of drone rules, or steps in the semiconductor sector, or the production incentive schemes in various sectors, or the rise of ease of doing business.”
Modi said Indian youth are being empowered by increasing technology access. “A mobile and data revolution is happening in the country and in the last 8 years, broadband connections rose from 60 million to 810 million, smartphone users went from 150 million to 750 million. The growth of the internet is faster in rural areas than in urban areas. A new demographic is being connected to the information superhighway.”
Modi said India jumped to the 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index this year. “In 2015, we were ranked 81. The number of unicorn start-ups in India has doubled since 2021. We are now the third largest start-up hub in the world. We have over 81,000 recognised startups and there are hundreds of international companies that have R&D centres in India. This is due to India's talent pool,” said Modi.
During his address, Bommai announced the setting up of six new high-tech cities in Hubbali, Dharwad, Mysuru, Mangaluru, central Karnataka, and near Bengaluru. He said the construction of these cities will begin in the next six months. These cities will focus on promoting science and technology and innovative ideas for the growth of Karnataka, he added.
The CM also announced the setting up of a startup park near the airport.
Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO at InMobi Group (InMobi, Glance, Roposo) had founded InMobi in Bengaluru, which became India's first unicorn. In his address as a guest of honour at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, he recalled coming to Bengaluru 15 years ago and hailed the city his “karma bhoomi”.
“Over fifteen years ago, we came to Bengaluru with an ambition and a desire to innovate, and this city has given it meaning. I am proud to say that Bengaluru is my "karma bhoomi," the place where we created InMobi, India’s first unicorn, and a few years later, Glance, our second unicorn. We may have kick-started this journey, but it is because of the efforts of my fellow entrepreneurs that we have reached 100 unicorns this year. As I stand here today as an entrepreneur, I have a bold vision for India. First, as Indians, we do not want to play small anymore. As a nation, we have time and again proved that we build world-class products for the world to use every day. Second, no other developed nation has gone through digitisation at the pace that we have,” Tewari said.
He observed that catalysed by the geo-political changes, next-gen innovation in information technology and access to some of the best talents in the world, India is well on her path to dominating software services for the world. “In the last 10 years, I have seen the country evolve not just here, but across the world as Indian technologists have the most important seats in any boardroom. In the last 20 years, we have seen that the world runs on software. I do believe that over the next 10 years, India will write all the software on which the world will run. I was told blatantly that we cannot create a product from India. We proved people wrong and we created a global product because we have the talent, and ambition to create such a product. My greatest wish is that Bengaluru not be called the Silicon Valley of India anymore. Instead, I want this city to be called “Bengaluru of Bharat” - the heart of India’s and the world's greatest innovation,” said Tewari.
Australia minister Tim Watts emphasised the value of close collaboration between Australia and India on all aspects of technology. “Over this summit, I look forward to engaging with many of you to explain further why Australia is an ideal destination for Indian technology companies and talent to invest, work, study and live. I am pleased to be joined on this trip by a delegation of over 50 people, representing Australian federal and state governments, leading companies and start-ups, and representatives from world-class academic institutions” he said.
Many announcements were made during Australia’s Country Session at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, including the launch of a report on blockchain by the Australian National University’s Tech Policy Design Centre with the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi. An MoU between Australian FinTech firm Ziksu and Indian firm Khandwana Securities was also signed on the occasion.