2. BANGALORE
Growth rate: 10.3%
What was knows as the Pensioners' Paradise 10 years back, has grown 10-fold today and a study reveals that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka's capital is the most crowded in India. Bangalore also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 million) or more.
With an estimated population of 6.5 million, Bangalore is one of India's most populous cities.
How has this city which was more famous for its gardens and laidback lifestyle changed so much in character? The two reasons that come to every Bangalorean's mind are: the advent of the IT industry, and subsequently the boom in real estate prices.
Unlike other cities in India, Bangalore's main activity is information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, the city is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India. Software majors Infosys and Wipro being headquartered in the city, Bangalore contributed 33 per cent of India's Rs 144,214 crore ($ 32 billion) IT exports in 2006-07.
Businesses involving large corporates that are either multinational companies or Indian firms dealing with or catering to MNCs employ a very large workforce in Bangalore.
And although the city's infrastructure has been unable to keep pace with the rapid growth of the city, Bangalore still remains one of India's boom towns.
Also read: Bangalore, the millionaire city!
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