Bengaluru vs Hyderabad debate: Not in rat race, says Karnataka IT minister CN Ashwath Narayan

On Monday, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and Rao inked a challenge that would see Bengaluru compete with Hyderabad to become India’s best city

IT/BT Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Monday said that Karnataka is not “in the rat race with other states”, in what was a jibe at his Telangana counterpart KT Rama Rao who urged entrepreneurs to quit Bengaluru and move to Hyderabad.

“Karnataka is not in the rat race with other states. Our focus is to collaborate and compete at a global level. Unfortunately, some states are piggybacking on our journey in the name of 'healthy competition'. We are on a marathon mission of building an #AatmaNirbharBharat,” Narayan said in a tweet, apparently aimed at Rao.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and Rao inked a challenge that would see Bengaluru compete with Hyderabad to become India’s best city.

Accepting Shivakumar’s challenge, Rao said: “Let Hyderabad & Bengaluru compete healthily on creating jobs for our youngsters & prosperity for our great nation.”

Tweeting statistics, Narayan pointed out that Karnataka had a 41% share in services exports, mostly IT and ITeS. With exports worth $90.82 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal (up to February), Karnataka is ahead of Maharashtra ($35.82 billion), Tamil Nadu ($27.98 billion) and Telangana ($26.87 billion).

“There are around 40 unicorns in Bengaluru, around 40% of India’s share,” Narayan said in a note that he tweeted. “Not only do we have the highest number of unicorns, but we also have the highest valuation of unicorns,” he added.

Narayan also said that three out of four Indian decacorns (companies with a valuation of $10 billion and more) are from Bengaluru -- Flipkart, Swiggy and Byju’s.

“Hyderabad is home to one unicorn - Darwinbox - which achieved unicorn status in January 2022,” he said.

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