Economist Sanjeev Sanyal explains how Kolkata lost its tech edge and Bengaluru won India’s IT crown
Economist Sanjeev Sanyal has made a striking claim about Bengaluru's rise as India's technology capital, linking it to the exodus of talent from Kolkata during Jyoti Basu's tenure as West Bengal chief minister.
Economist Sanjeev Sanyal suggested that Kolkata's loss of its technological edge may have been due to the migration of talent away from the city, which helped Bengaluru become India's IT hub. During a podcast with Abhijit Majumder, Sanyal recounted an incident in the 1970s when IBM brought in mainframe computers and faced a strike in Kolkata, implying that Jyoti Basu, West Bengal's chief minister from 1977 to 2000, inadvertently fueled Bengaluru's rise.
Sanyal argued that as Kolkata became increasingly hostile towards industry, talented individuals moved to Bengaluru, aiding its technological development. He emphasized that Kolkata once held an important position in India's economy and IT sector but declined as opportunities shifted to other cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Sanyal believes that eastern India lacks a major urban hub for rapid growth, which has hindered its progress compared to southern and western India. He sees potential for Kolkata to become an economic catalyst for eastern India, given its existing infrastructure and institutions.
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