Bengaluru, 5 May

The State government on Tuesday signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) with ISEG Foundation to jointly develop a comprehensive economic masterplan for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (BMR), officials said.

Officials stated that the economic masterplan will outline an ambitious, data-driven and actionable vision for the BMR, covering key areas such as the economy, liveability, infrastructure and sustainability, with targets set for 2032 and 2037.

Officials said the blueprinting phase of the master plan will take four to five months and is expected to be completed by mid-September.

"It will include a detailed diagnostic assessment of the BMR economy benchmarked against global City-regions, a co-created long-term vision, identification of key growth drivers, and 6-8 high-impact interventions across sectors such as technology, advanced manufacturing, biotech, tourism, housing, infrastructure and sustainability," the statement said.

Officials said the approach is modelled on the G-Hub initiative, a NITI Aayog-led programme aimed at developing economic masterplans for high-growth City-regions, with an aim to generate USD 500-750 billion in incremental GDP and create 20-25 million (2-2.5 crore) new jobs across 8-10 regions.

The plan aims to more than double the City's economy by 2032 and position it as a global peer, comparable to Tokyo, London and Singapore, the statement said.

To ensure execution, the Karnataka government has constituted a Steering Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, with members from departments, including Urban Development, Finance, Electronics, IT and Biotechnology, Commerce and Industry, Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority, GBA, BMRCL, BMTC, Tourism and Higher Education, it said.

The Chief Commissioner of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has been designated as the Senior Nodal Officer for coordination, while Sectoral Advisory Groups comprising industry experts and private sector leaders will be formed. Citizen groups will also be involved in the planning process, it added.

The Chief Minister and Deputy CM will conduct quarterly reviews during both phases.

BMR contributes over 43 per cent of Karnataka's GSDP and hosts India's largest concentration of IT, Global Capability Centres, aerospace and biotechnology activity, among others. The per capita income for the population of the BMR is USD 8,850, nearly double the State average, officials said.

The SOI was signed in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. ISEG Foundation is a Section 8 not-for-profit organisation that has developed economic masterplans for regions such as Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kashi-Vindhya and Pune.