To boost startups, Karnataka govt should first fix Bengaluru’s creaky infra

The Karnataka government on Monday announced a Startup Booster Kit to facilitate Startups registered with the government’s specially set up startup cell. The booster kit will have facilities like software tools, cloud credits, access to mentors, legal and accounting consultants and access to government funding and incubators. The government hopes to groom and grow 20,000 startups by 2020. The IT department has signed up with several multinationals, including IBM, Amazon Web Services, Vodafone, Airtel and Microsoft BizSpark among others for discounted cloud services, internet services, payment gateways and other tech services required by the startups.  Economic Times reported that the government will float a request for proposal (RFP) to rope in a professional fund manager to manage its Rs 200 crore fund of funds. The fund manager, a financial institution, is expected to bring in its own share and increase the size of the fund of funds. The government also plans a monthly open house for the start-ups, the first event being planned at the at GoK-Nasscom 10,000 startups warehouse on 17 August. The Business Standard quoted the Minister of Information Technology & Bio Technology Priyank Kharge, “We are going to have a dedicated startup cell.. we are going to have a dedicated startup booster kit and we are going have a dedicated fund to ensure things. With this we hope to continue as the torch bearer of the IT and BT industry in India and we will continue to be the startup capital of India.” All these proposals sound great on paper, but how is the government planning to support the start-up climate with its woeful infrastructure? Startups may get venture capital and other attendant services to plug in and take off, but they’re going to find it extremely difficult to continue their work undisturbed. Imagine the scenario if these talented young professionals have to battle every day through potholed roads and extremely trying traffic conditions to reach their offices. Imagine the scenario where they have to also set aside scarce funds for diesel gensets to ensure uninterrupted power supply to run their operations. Imagine the scenario where they have to buy tankers of water for their drinking and other needs. Imagine the scenario if they have to also bear the stench of un-cleared garbage around their offices. None of these scenarios are particularly enticing. Yet, if Bengaluru continues to be the start-up capital of India, it is not because the city has unbeatable infrastructure and a well-oiled civic corporation, but despite it. If Infosys, TCS and Wipro and all the IT companies from Bengaluru led the march making Bengaluru the Silicon Valley of India, they did so, by doing practically everything on their own. Almost all multinationals and IT companies in the city generate their own power and even offer their surplus power to the grid. They use treated water for their green cover and even have their own waste treatment and biogas plants. And, so abysmal is the city’s infrastructure that you will find most IT companies doing all their meetings through satcom. IT companies constantly advice their staff to beat traffic by leaving before peak hours. So, you will find young engineers leaving home at the unearthly hour of 6 am to reach their office early. The IT companies have created all the creature comforts for their staff in the office campuses, like Gyms, food courts, laundry facilities, grocery and medical stores, so their employees do not want for anything. All these companies are islands of excellence, but it happened on their own steam. The Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking Report 2015 rated Bengaluru as the second fastest growing startup ecosystem in the world and it is the only Indian city to be ranked among the best 15 startup ecosystems across the world. If you wonder how this could have happened, especially as start-ups would not have the funds to create their own infrastructure like the bigger companies have done, it’s also because of the vibrant scientific community and the intellectual ambiance the city continues to have. Bengaluru had the benefit of the early presence of scientific public sector units like Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Bharat Electronics and National Aerospace Laboratories and other government funded premier research, defence units. It also had premier research and educational institutions like the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and plus several premier engineering institutions in the state. These institutions provided the industry the intellectual capital to spur the growth of the IT industry to allow the city to lead from the front. Trained manpower is the first and foremost requirement for any start-up and this has been easy to find in and around Bengaluru. Speak of cloud, enterprise solutions, digitisation, automation, or hi-speed internet connectivity, Bengaluru’s IT world is way ahead of other cities, because it has the talent to create these seamlessly. Speak of finding incubation space, there are the IIMs and IISCs and the government’s own cells to provide that. Speak of angel funding and venture capital there are a score of IT honchos waiting for the next big idea to invest their wealth in. Of course, besides the scientific community, Bengaluru has always had the additional advantage of a pleasant climate all year long, because of its geographical location of being situated at a height of 3000 feet. Two big advantages that have ensured that there has not yet been a flight of capital from the city. But how long will this last? Talented young professionals with great ideas and dreams in their eyes, have to still depend on the civic administration to provide the basic infrastructure on the ground. Their scarce funds would be required for working capital and to pay salaries. So, what Kharge needs to realise is that while all his grandiose plans are great, he must ensure that his colleagues in the other departments create the right atmosphere for the start ups to function well. Take Mumbai, for instance. I visited the city last week and was amazed to find hardly any traffic jams. There were any number of flyovers and freeways to create speedy and smooth commute in the city. And hold your breath, there was no garbage lying around on the roadsides, creating blackspots, no water problems and no scheduled or unscheduled load shedding either. So what is Mumbai doing that Bengaluru can learn from? Mumbai has a civic administration that works. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a coalition or a single political party running the municipal body, the civic administration runs smoothly, because it has efficient administrators at its reign. And mind you, Mumbai has a higher density of population with nearly 22 million, while Bengaluru is only at 8.5 million. But, being the third most populous urban city, and growing at a rapid pace, it will not be long before Bengaluru catches up. And, if Startup India has to continue to be led by Bengaluru’s talented young, then it is time that the civic administration learnt from its neighbouring cities.