Economy :

Bangalore's Rs 260, 260 crore (US$ 100 billion) economy (2002–03 Net District Income) makes it a major economic centre in India. With an economic growth of 10.3%, Bangalore is the fastest growing major metropolis in India. Additionally, Bangalore is India's fourth largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market. The city is the third largest hub for high net worth individuals and is home to over 10,000 dollar millionaires and about 60,000 super-rich people who have an investable surplus of Rs. 4.5 crore (US$ 1 million) and Rs. 50 lakh (US$ 100,300) respectively. As of 2001, Bangalore's share of Rs. 1,660 crore (US$ 300 million) in Foreign Direct Investment was the fourth highest for an Indian city.

In the 1940, industrial visionaries such as Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya played an important role in the development of Bangalore's strong manufacturing and industrial base. The headquarters of several public sector undertakings such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) are located in Bangalore. In June 1972 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established under the Department of Space and headquartered in the city.


Bangalore is called the Silicon Valley of India because of the large number of information technology companies located in the city which contributed 33% of India's Rs. 144,214 crore (US$ 29 billion) IT exports in 2006-07. Bangalore's IT industry is divided into three main clusters — Software Technology Parks of India (STPI); International Tech Park, Bangalore (ITPB); and Electronics City. UB City, the headquarters of the United Breweries Group, is a high-end commercial zone. Infosys and Wipro, India's second and third largest software companies are headquartered in Bangalore, as are many of the global SEI-CMM Level 5 Companies.

The growth of IT has presented the city with unique challenges. Ideological clashes sometimes occur between the city's IT moguls, who demand an improvement in the city's infrastructure, and the state government, whose electoral base is primarily the people in rural Karnataka. Bangalore is a hub for biotechnology related industry in India and in the year 2005, around 47% of the 265 biotechnology companies in India were located here; including Biocon, India's largest biotechnology company.