Bangalore City - IT hub and Karnataka's city on the move

From the archive record

In the early 1980s, the IT industry in India was still taking its baby steps. Wipro and Infosys had started its IT arm but were too small by any standards. IT initially tried to set up an office in Mumbai and Chennai. But at both places, they received bureaucratic hurdles (read as both states refused permission – imagine the license raj era of pre-1991 globalization). It was then they approached Karnataka and here they were treated quite opposite. The chief minister of Karnataka at that time, R. Gundu Rao literally laid the red carpet for them and physically received the delegation at the airport. He not only agreed to their terms but also promised them office very close to Vidhan Soudha to make them feel comfortable. Not many people know that it was Sona Towers, No. 71, Millers Road, Bang