Bullish on Bangalore

I just returned from a two day trip to Bangalore where I gave a Tuck admissions presentation to 100 prospective applicants. The admissions presentation went well and I think we can count on another year of rising application volumes from Bangalore. The added bonus was that I got to spend a little time exploring the city, and I must say I am quite impressed.

In case you happen to live under a rock, Bangalore is the IT capital of India, and is at the center of the outsourcing movement that has propelled India’s economic development. The most common analogy is to Silicon Valley, and I think the comparison is quite appropriate. Bangalore has a more temperate climate with temperature about 5 to 10 degrees lower than the sweltering Mumbai temperatures that are consistently in the 90’s. Similar to the Bay Area, Bangalore’s landscape includes a large amount of green space with Cubbon Park and Ulsoor Lake located right in the city center and the huge botanical gardens located in the near suburbs. Similar to Silicon Valley, Bangalore is a relatively young city which has allowed it to develop the infrastructure required to keep pace with its growth with fewer historical impediments. The roads are wide and less congested than Mumbai and a new monorail system is coming up. Like San Jose and Santa Clara, Bangalore’s distinctive feature is the sprawling IT campuses that surround the city. These campuses are home to companies like Wipro, Infosys, and TCS (if you have never heard of these companies look them up because they are going to be the IBM’s of tomorrow) as well as multinationals. Overall, Bangalore presents the picture of a prosperous rapidly modernizing city with a high quality of life.

Bangalore is a glimpse into India’s future and if other cities can follow Bangalore’s lead it will be bright future indeed.