INDIA FOCUS
TECH CITIES REINFORCE INDIA AS A RELOCATION HUB
India’s launch of several new tech partnerships has made it crystal clear the country is open for business. Ledetta Asfa-Wossen reports on the thriving destination.
J
ust last month, the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook projected India’s growth at
an annual rate of 7.4 per cent for 2018/19 and 7.8 per cent in 2019/20. India’s industrial strategy has been
full throttle over the last four years under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with ambitious plans for driving technology,
infrastructure, financial
centres, the automotive sector and healthcare. Lloyds Bank Group, KPMG and
US multinational GE have all recently invested in digital tech hubs in Bangalore. Last year, Standard Chartered Bank and RBS announced recruitment plans in Mumbai, while automotive company ZF Group opened its first technology centre in Hyderabad. There are many more examples, with corporations increasingly viewing India as an essential part of their business growth strategy rather than a place to simply outsource services. So, what’s luring companies east? A
series of government initiatives, economic reforms that are encouraging foreign investment and a wealth of tech talent driven by its young population. According to a United Nations
Development Programme report, India will be home to the world’s largest working age population, crossing 1 billion people by 2050. Combined with the country’s mission to get 100 million more Indians online, it is earnestly harvesting digital talent and growing tech businesses in order to create what it terms ‘smart cities’.
Smarter cities Burgeoning
tech cities include
Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon. Once a farming area, Gurgaon sits just south of New Delhi and is now home to Google, Facebook, Uber,
Booking.com and TripAdvisor. Supported by a booming real estate
market, Gurgaon has become favoured by tech companies due to easy airport access and good quality office space. Between 2001 and 2011 alone, Gurgaon’s population grew from 870,539 to more than 1.5 million according to census data. At the end of January, Western Union
opened its first Technology Engineering Centre in Pune as part of its global fintech strategy, employing 1,000 people. The centre will specifically focus on robotics, machine learning and biometrics. While Bangalore has traditionally
enjoyed a tech reputation much like Silicon Valley, the government has been intent on creating further ‘smart cities’ to compete with it. Earlier this year, plans to further develop the low-tax GIFT City were announced – the first operational smart city and financial centre in the state of Gujarat which now houses two stock exchanges.
Tech talent In April, the UK and India entered a tech
partnership. The agreement aims to identify organisations in the two countries that can work together and open up opportunities for tech entrepreneurs. The UK will initially invest £1 million to pilot the initiative and could potentially add up to £13 million by 2022. Meanwhile the UK intends to tap into
10 | Relocate | Summer 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
