Hyderabad transforms into infotech hub, but techies prefer Bengaluru
According to experts, Bengaluru was far ahead of Hyd in IT growth because of its early bird advantage
HYDERABAD : When one thinks of information technology sector in India, the city that comes to mind first is Bengaluru. Having earned the reputation of being ‘Silicon Valley’ of India, it has been the dream destination for techies from all parts of the country for over three decades.
The city headquarters about 80% of global IT companies, and accounts for almost 34% of India’s total IT exports, which stood at ₹11,12,496 crore in 2019-20. Strong regulatory environment, effective tax incentives and availability of abundant talent pool that is globally competitive have made Bengaluru one of the best destinations for IT investments in India.
But in the last 15-20 years, Hyderabad has been emerging as an IT hub, giving a stiff competition to Bengaluru in attracting top global companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Salesforce, Micron and Qualcomm which have set up largest operations outside their own headquarters.
In a recent review on IT policy, Telangana minister for information technology K T Rama Rao said the value of IT exports from Hyderabad shot up from ₹57,258 crores in 2013-14 to ₹1,28,807 crores in 2019-20.
“This accounts for a cumulative growth of 110% which is much higher than the national average. In the same period, our IT sector employment also grew from 3,25,000 to 5,82,126,” he says and pointed out that meteoric growth in the IT sector in Hyderabad was because of a robust policy being implemented by the state.
B’LURU STILL ATTRACTS TELUGU TECHIES
Yet, Bengaluru continues to be the dream destination for the techies from Telangana and Andhra, because of its established working climate and huge opportunities for professional growth. Secondly, Bengaluru has a lot of cultural similarity with the Telugu states.
“I do not feel an alien in Bengaluru, as culturally it is not very different from Hyderabad. Both are cosmopolitan cities, with people from all parts of the country living there. A big chunk of techies in Bengaluru is from
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; so, I feel very much at home here,” says Priyesh Nimmala, a software engineer from Hyderabad working with Intel in Bengaluru. Moreover, the working culture in many of the Bengaluru IT companies is cool. “The timings are flexible and working atmosphere is relaxed,” he says.
According to K Kishore, a senior techie from Prism Technologies, the main reason why most of the Telugu software engineers still choose Bengaluru for their career growth is attractive pay package. “The average salary of a software engineer in Bengaluru is on a higher side, compared to Hyderabad,” he says.
Nimmala, who has virtually made Bengaluru as his home town in the last nine years, agrees with it. “The salary structure is at least 30-40 per cent more than what is paid in Hyderabad. However, the cost of living in Bengaluru is very high; the house rents are exorbitant and all other consumables are expensive. That way, there is not much to save here,” he says.
Because of the high cost of living, most of the Telugu techies working in Bengaluru staying in shared accommodations prefer returning to Hyderabad during week-ends. “It is hardly 600 km of travel – an overnight journey by bus or train. I make it a point to return to Hyderabad once in a week or two weeks,” says Naveen Kumar, a mechanical engineer working with Kennametal, a US-based multinational tool manufacturing company.
He says many youngsters also share a cab, or do car-pooling using mobile apps like Blah Blah to travel together to reduce the cost. “Of course, in the last few months, almost all the techies from Hyderabad had to work from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, things are getting back to normal and travelling is back,” he said.
Another factor that attracts Telugu techies to Bengaluru is its night life, compared to Hyderabad.
“There are quite a few pubs and getaways in Bengaluru which provide a relief to the techies. Add to this, there are a lot of tourist spots around Bengaluru and Mysore; that is an added attraction,” Kumar says.
WORK CONNECTIVITY
Though Bengaluru and Hyderabad have emerged as independent IT hubs , they have a lot of connectivity in terms of sharing of work and talent pool.
Several top companies like Microsoft, Google, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Deloitte, Wipro and Qualcomm have their campuses both in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and they compliment each other in taking up projects.
“In software services, it depends on project to project. If a software company in Bengaluru thinks there is right talent in Hyderabad, it gets the work done there. After all, the end result is important for the company,” says Satish Chandra, a senior techie with Qualcomm.