Bengaluru, Oct 10 (IANS) Karnataka Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge on Friday said that Bengaluru’s traffic problem is also an indication of the city’s growth.

Addressing the Mobility Symposium 2025, Priyank Kharge, referring to Bengaluru traffic, said, “75.5 per cent of Bengaluru’s population is working population, we are number four globally. It’s a good problem to have if you ask me. A lot of people opine that Bengaluru has traffic related issues. We are having traffic issues because we are growing.”

He said: “Last year, close to 77.92 million square feet of office space was sold to global capability centres in the top seven cities. Out of that 47 per cent was Bengaluru alone. This year, we have sold close to 14.5 million square feet for global capability centres alone and I am not talking about other office space.”

“This is the growth we are having. The city has absorbed the highest number of migrants, because they are getting jobs here and we are getting 1.2 crore vehicles registered, close to around 82 lakh two-wheelers and 25 lakh four-wheelers,” Minister Kharge said.

Taking to social media platform X, he said, “Bengaluru’s mobility story reflects both our success and our challenges. We’re one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, with our GDP projected to grow at over 8.5 per cent annually for the next decade.”

The Government is solving all challenges collaboratively with think tanks and corporates, Minister Kharge said.

Recently, the Congress-led government and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, who is also Bengaluru Development Minister, had to face strong criticism from IT industry leaders over poor road infrastructure and pothole menace in Bengaluru city.

His statement of challenging IT companies “not to blackmail” and “go wherever you want to” in this regard had also stirred a huge row.

–IANS

mka/svn