The Indian technology industry is decentralising from 7 major hubs to 26 cities, says a new report published by Deloitte India and Nasscom. Growing infrastructural growth, skills, and startup ecosystem are the facilitating factors of this change.
The 220-page report, titled “Emerging technology hubs of India”, mentions 26 emerging locations that have the “potential to become significant opportunities for enterprises to set-up tech-hubs”.
The list includes Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhopal, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Vijayawada, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Mysuru and Kochi.
“While big cities were the focus in the past, the post-pandemic era witnessed a remarkable decentralisation of work across the nation”, Times of India quoted Deloitte India Partner Sumeet Salwan.
The current 7 mature hubs are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. And the majority of the 5.4 million people employed in the technology industry in India have clustered around these seven major cities.
The new talent pools costs are 25-30 percent lower than those in mature hubs, with 50 percent cost savings in real estate rentals compared with mature hubs.
According to the report, 39 percent of the country’s start-ups are based in emerging cities.
Now “companies worldwide continue to actively revisit ways of working with an eye on optimising outcomes, costs, and talent, the opportunity and possibility to develop alternative tech hubs are now becoming extremely essential”, Times of India quoted Nasscom Head GCC and BPM Sukanya Roy.
“India is expected to have a skilled talent surplus by 2030. These hubs offer companies a compelling blend of advantages: access to a fresh, skilled talent pool, cost-effective operations, and robust infrastructure”, she added.
For the study, Deloitte India and Nasscom had conducted extensive researches and held in-depth conversations with industry leaders, academic institutions, recruiters, and other key players.
The upcoming IT hubs of India as per the report are, Chandigarh, Nagpur, , Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Kanpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Guwahati, Ranchi, Bhopal, Jaipur, Indore, Nashik, Bhubaneshwar, Raipur, Nashik, Nagpur, Warangal, Visakhapatnam, Hubbali, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Mysuru, Coimbatore, Vellore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi and Vellore.
The study traced that about 11-15 percent of tech talent is based in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. And about 60 per cent of graduates come from smaller cities in key fields, 30 percent of whom relocate to tier-1 cities for employment after graduation.
“This trend is fueled by a highly proficient workforce in cutting-edge digital technologies, with about 8 lakh individuals within these emerging hubs adept in the latest tech domains. These emerging cities are witnessing a surge in digitally skilled workforce, with over 100,000 professionals contributing to their growth,” reads the report.
According to the study, the next wave of technology hubs will emerge from these cities with incentives like reduced cost of operations, better access to talent pool and lower attrition apart from state government support in terms of infrastructure and policies.
The study also highlights that as of 2022, more than 7,000 start-ups are operating from emerging hubs and in fields from DeepTech to BPM services. These emerging companies have grown by 50 per cent from 2014 to 2018