Make Bengaluru more liveable, Narayana Murthy urges govt

Narayana Murthy requested the government to make commuting easier and provide healthcare facilities.

Noting that youngsters across the country want to begin their careers in this tech city, IT czar N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday asked the government to help in making it more liveable.

"The reality of my (IT) industry is that the youngsters, both from within Karnataka and other parts of India, all want to be in Bengaluru," Murthy said at the inauguration of Invest Karnataka 2016.

Despite efforts to convince youngsters to start their careers in cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru as well as places like Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore and Nagpur, he said "the reality is that our youngsters want to work in Bengaluru."

"Therefore I request Minister (Industries) Deshpande and the Chief Minister to help us make Bengaluru more liveable, provide whatever infrastructure facilities are needed to ensure that there is access to...educational facilities," he said.

Murthy also requested the government to make commuting easier and provide healthcare facilities.

Pointing out that Bengaluru accounted for 38 per cent of the IT industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP, Murthy said it translated to somewhere around $35 billion, including $28 billion in terms of exports.

"Karnataka has already done a very good job, so the expectations from Karnataka are even higher, and I believe that with proper intervention from government of Karnataka, this industry has potential to add even greater value to the economy of Karnataka," he said.

Recalling Karnataka government’s support in starting Infosys, Murthy said, "I must show my sense of gratitude to government of Karnataka for making Infosys what it is today."

"It is Karnataka where we have three development centres, in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Mysuru. Right now, we are in the process of building the fourth one in Hubballi," he added.