Bangalore R&D offshoring hub for 50 percent MNCs

Bangalore: Bangalore leads for R&D offshoring by MNCs, both for captive units and outsourced product development. About 50 percent of 780 MNC R&D centers are based in Bangalore, according to the research firm, Zinnov Management Consulting.

"The R&D and innovation ecosystem is well developed here," says C S Chandramouli, Director at Zinnov. A number of semiconductor design firms are today based in Bangalore. "Many low-cost chips are now being developed by Bangalore R&D teams. We are also home to many start-ups who are actively filing patents," says Chandramouli.

About 50 percent of 780 MNC R&D centers are based in Bangalore, according to the research firm, Zinnov Management Consulting.

Being a talent pool, Bangalore becomes the focus of global players for their research and technology units. Sectors which have set up software arms in Bangalore include Boeing, Rolls Royce, BaE, Honeywell, Pratt and Whitney and others. Also, the market observers say that the best access to engineering talents stand in Bangalore.

T Parabrahman, Chairman of CII, Karnataka, said the city has access to the best engineering talent due to the growing number of engineering colleges in the city. "This has helped us become a hub for innovation in machine tools, cutting tools, garment and IT industry," he said, and further added,"With expertise in the core sciences and IISc, our defence industry and related research is also progressing well."

In Bangalore, the Bosch has developed electronic control units (ECU) for diesel and gasoline fuel injection systems for low-price vehicles. These ECUs integrate all the required functions of an engine control into a single unit/compact chipset.

S Sadagopan, Founder of IIIT, Bangalore says the city has many incubation centres in higher educational institutions. These centres are also working with major IT companies for global products. "Universities file for few patents, around 10 per year. But the R&D centers file around several dozen a year," said Sadagopan.