Mangaluru 如何把蓝色经济与 AI 人才打造成科技增长引擎

For years, the Karnataka coastal city of Mangaluru was pitched against the IT capital, Bengaluru. It vied for the same talent pipeline, IT firms, startup funding, and ecosystem.

Now, its technology leaders are trying to build the pieces of a local ecosystem. That includes startups, global capability centres (GCCs), AI workforce, funding, and infrastructure.

Rohith Bhat, Founder of co-working infrastructure company wrkwrk, 99Games, and Robosoft Technologies, says the cluster needs to build strength in several areas.

“We will focus on a few things, but we will not focus on one thing,” he says, as head of the Mangaluru cluster. That approach comes as the region’s talent pool expands.

The September 2026 Silicon Beach Skills report puts the active white-collar talent pool across Udupi and Mangaluru at 280,000. Experienced white-collar talent has grown 17% year-on-year to 105,000. Professionals with 15+ years of experience make up 14% of the workforce.

The numbers matter because Mangaluru’s next challenge is not simply finding people. It is creating enough high-value work for them to stay.

The Talent is Already Here

Bhat estimates the cluster has about 50,000 technology workers and wants to reach 100,000 by 2030. He also wants the startup base to cross 1,000 companies as the cluster aims to add 10 million sq ft of IT infrastructure and bring data centre capacity online.

The goal, however, is not growth for its own sake. Bhat says the cluster wants “good quality, high-paying jobs” to come to the region. He linked those jobs to wider employment and talent retention.

Mangaluru is also trying to reverse the movement of skilled workers to larger cities. Bhat believes the cluster has created a homecoming platform for people who moved away. “Companies are hiring. Why don’t they look at coming back?” he wonders.

He tells AIM that people return for different reasons, including parents, children, and fatigue with city life. The idea will only work if the region can offer strong career opportunities.

The talent report also shows a broad experience mix. Workers with one to five years of experience make up 46% of the active workforce. IT and IT-enabled services account for almost one-fourth of the workforce. The sector has also recorded 21% year-on-year growth, per the report.

NTT Data provides one example of how that ecosystem could evolve. Its Mangaluru centre has moved beyond local delivery. It now handles work for global customers.

Shashir Shetty, Chief Growth Officer at Niveus Solutions (acquired by NTT Data in 2025), says, “I think sitting out of Mangaluru and doing transformation for some of the world’s largest customers.”

The centre has an AI delivery unit with a team of around 70–100 people. The team focuses on native AI solutions. It works on AI for manufacturing, conversational AI, and education. The Mangaluru team has also delivered work for the Mahindra Scorpio digital launch and works with major financial services and retail organisations.

NTT Data now wants to scale Mangaluru as a cloud and AI centre of excellence. Shetty says the company is looking at “a massive scale” for the location. He also notes the conversation around Mangaluru has changed. A technology cluster needs companies that create specialised work, not only offices that add headcount.

Building the Missing Pieces

The government also wants to fill gaps around startups and investment. Vaishakh Pai K, Mangaluru cluster head at Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), believes support starts with incubation.

The cluster has nine incubation centres. Startups can then move into acceleration programmes, angel funding, and a Beyond Bengaluru cluster seed fund. Pai says the combined fund is worth ₹75 crore (split equally between Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Dharwad clusters).

The government is looking beyond software too. LK Atheeq, Finance Adviser to Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, believes investment could come through data centres, electric vehicles, and the blue economy, i.e. fisheries, maritime transport, and ocean renewable energy.

A new centre of excellence focused on ocean sciences and the blue economy is being opened at a cost of ₹60 crore. It will support startups working in ocean engineering, marine biology, and aquaculture.

Atheeq also points to Karnataka’s Sustainable Data Centre policy, approved in September, which includes ₹1,300 crore in incentives.

While Mangaluru’s coastal location makes it suitable for data centre investments, the expansion brings another question. How much growth can the city absorb without weakening what makes it attractive?

Atheeq believes sustainability will remain important as investment grows. He notes that companies are increasingly conscious of environmental concerns when choosing sites.

For Bhat, the answer lies in building several strengths instead of betting everything on one sector. He points to startups, GCCs, data centres, healthcare, hardware, and electronics.

Mangaluru therefore has a larger task than becoming the second destination for companies leaving Bengaluru. It must connect talent, companies, startups, capital, and infrastructure.