| Electronic City | |
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| Coordinates | 12°50′N 77°40′E / 12.84°N 77.67°ECoordinates: 12°50′N 77°40′E / 12.84°N 77.67°E |
| Country | India |
| State | Karnataka |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Founded | 1978 |
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| Location | Hosur Road, Bangalore |
| Surface area | 332 acres (134 ha) |
| Industry | Electronics, Information Technology |
| Major companies | Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, Hewlett-Packard, Infosys, Patni Computer Systems, C-DOT, CGI, Siemens, mahindra Satyam |
| Employees | 100,000[1] |
| Total investments | US$ 2,000,000 |
Electronics City (Kannada: ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರೋನಿಕ್ಸ್ ಸಿಟಿ ) is one of India's largest electronic industrial parks, spread over 332 acres (1.3 km²) in Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur villages, just outside Bangalore, India. It has three phases – Phase I, Phase II and Phase III. Electronics City was established by Keonics, Karnataka Electronics,[2] a pioneer in information technology infrastructure development. Keonics Electronics City has a world class infrastructure which has housed major IT /ITES companies such as Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, Hewlett-Packard, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Patni Computer Systems, CGI, Siemens, Yokogawa Electric etc.[1]
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The Electronics City was the brainchild of R.K. Baliga, the first Chairman and Managing Director of Keonics, Karnataka Electronics.[2] He dreamt of making Bangalore the Silicon Valley of India when he developed the concept of Electronic City. He did not live to see his dream materialize (he died in 1988). The liberalisation of the Indian economy in the early 1990s by the then Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and then Indian Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh helped Electronic City to become what it is today—the outsourcing capital of the world. In 1997, the maintenance and upkeep of Electronic City was handed over by Keonics to ELCIA, the Electronics City Industries Association, having representatives from units in the enclave, for effective local governance and management.
Biotech Park Helix, has been set up by the Department of Bio Technology in Electronic City.[3] Transport facility has seen commendable improvement over the last couple of years. BMTC buses to all parts of the city and BIAL ply through Electronic City. Several residential projects are being developed in the stretch between Neeladri Road and Thogur. Reputed educational institutions and medical facilities are located in Electronic City.
The ten-laned mixed corridor elevated highway from Silk Board Junction to Electronic City was opened on 22 Jan 2010. The 9.985 km long expressway is the longest elevated national highway in the country. This elevated stretch, promises to help a commuter reach Electronic City from Silk Board in less than 15 minutes. The highway or Hosur Road, also has some buildings of some major IT players like BOSCH, Sasken, Convergys etc., along with showrooms of major auto manufacturers like Volvo, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen etc.
Some of the companies in Electronic City are:
A listing of about 120 companies may be found in the portal.a
Due to rapid development of IT companies in this area, rapid urbanization started taking place. Most of the employees who work in electronic city prefer to stay near to their offices. Population density of the local residents started to burst exponentially. A lot of houses are built to accommodate people in need for residence. Due to this many environmental issues started to arise. There are many notable lakes in and around electronic city namely, Doddanagamangala Kere, Rayasandra kere, Chikkatogur kere, Gattahalli kere, Veerasandra kere , heelalige kere, hebbagodi kere and many more. There was no preplanned drainage system. All the waste water is diverted into these lakes and these lakes are in under great threat of pollution. With an increase in the population, the necessities of the resident people also increased, these lakes are being used as places for cleaning vehicles, dumping trash and also a good sporting place to hunt down many birds like cranes, ducks and other native animals. Bangalore Animals welfare communities and environmental activists must work together to bring down the damage being done to the environment.
Due to the establishment of IT industries the local land rates have grown extremely high. IT employees who come from various parts of India usually prefer rented houses particularly near to their offices in electronic city. They are usually choice-less to stay else where in the city because of heavy traffic. The rental prices for houses have become a great matter of concern for many people particular to IT employees. House lords tend to quote extremely high price of rent for his tenant if he is found to be working in an IT company just because of the common assumption that an IT guy earns very much. Rental rates doubling every quarter, government agencies having no check on the house owners by law, every resident of electronic city who stays on rent is facing financial crises.