Bangalore: Electronic City accused of tax evasion, government may take over

Bangalore: Bangalore is India's premier IT hub and houses top companies like Wipro and Infosys. But now, the Bangalore Municipal Corporation wants to take over the privately managed Electronic City, accusing it of tax evasion. The move, however, has drawn howls of protest.

Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services, says, "I find it very shocking and surprising that these people want to do this. They have no track record. We must not bring down Electronic City to the level of infrastructure that is in Bangalore."

At present, the 440 acre campus is maintained by an industries association and each company pays a maintenance charge.

The essence of the problem may not be in who controls Electronic City, but in who benefits at the end of the day.

Compared to Bangalore's notorious traffic blocks and bad roads, the roads in the Electronic City are clear and well maintained.

The IT hub already has several educational institutions and three-star hotels. Plans are also afoot to build residential townships. Companies fear that the corporation will manage things shoddily. They want the government to give the IT hub an industrial town status.

But the essence of the problem may not lie in who controls the IT hub at all, but in who benefits at the end of the day.

Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy says, "They give the local panchayat Rs 15 lakh in taxes when it should be Rs 150 lakh. They are cheating the government."

On its part, the city corporation has already passed a resolution to take over, and is just waiting for the state government's nod. The industries, however, are in a mood to give up without a fight.

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