Belagavi needs to retell its story

A few Bengaluru-based technology professionals recently made an uncomfortable observation about Belagavi. They are experienced technologists who have spent successful careers in some of the world’s leading technology companies before starting new ventures in Bengaluru. Their question was simple: Where is the deep, fundamental, high-technology work happening in Belagavi?

Look around, and much of the visible entrepreneurial activity is in familiar territory – apps, food businesses, retail, fashion, services, restaurants, delivery and small-scale digital businesses, they said. There is nothing wrong with these businesses. They create employment and economic activity. But that is not the same as building deep technology.

Where are the companies emerging from serious research in semiconductors, advanced materials, robotics, biotechnology, aerospace, energy, medical technology, AI infrastructure or other areas where scientific knowledge itself becomes the foundation of a business?

And this question goes beyond technology. We are asked what significant original work is Belagavi producing in film, media, contemporary art, architecture, design, scientific research or intellectual property? We have educational institutions, engineering colleges, hospitals, industries and a considerable amount of talent. Yet how much of that ecosystem is producing work that attracts attention beyond the city?

Yes it feels bad to hear such comments, but that’s because a large part of it is not true. It is here that I feel we seriously need to retell the Belagavi story. A city does not become an innovation centre merely by repeatedly calling itself one or waiting for others to acknowledge. We must learn to position and defend ourselves properly by first knowing the facts.

Belagavi certainly has strengths – engineering talent, manufacturing, education, healthcare, agriculture, entrepreneurship and a strategic location. These assets are being connected to create something significantly bigger, but elsewhere. The problem may not be a lack of intelligence or talent. It is at the ecosystem level.

Deep-tech companies usually require uncomfortable ingredients: serious research, laboratories, patient capital, scientists working alongside engineers, universities willing to take risks, industry partnerships and years of experimentation before anything commercially meaningful emerges. Most of this needs Government support. Thousands of crores. The reason why cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai developed as tech, education, media, R & D centers is because the Govt. poured in money. Offered lands. Developed connectivity, brought in people, designed policies and created a conducive ecosystem. Then private sector comes running. How much of this is done for Belagavi?

Belagavi has produced engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and technology leaders who now work across India and the world. How can we bring them to Belagavi? We also need to Build a local deep-tech investment pool. Traditional businesses and local investors could create a patient-capital fund specifically for technology emerging from Belagavi. Deep tech often takes years; expecting app-style returns in two years will kill the ecosystem before it begins.

Also, we must not undermine the work done by companies like Vayavya Labs and Sankhya Labs, which were ahead of their time in creating cutting-edge technology. Our engineering companies supply precision parts to major companies. Take AKP, Vega, Pragati Automation, Ashok Iron Works and more. Organizations like the Foundry Cluster, BeTCA are doing immense work to help businesses.

Belagavi does not need to become Bengaluru. It needs to become more of itself, but with much higher ambition.

There is no need to diminish what Belagavi has achieved. Perhaps the real challenge for the next generation is not to keep telling the world that Belagavi has potential.

It is to build something the world cannot ignore.