Bengaluru's Electronic City To Be Renamed After Former CM Devaraj Urs

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced that Bengaluru’s well-known technology district, Electronics City, will be renamed in honour of former chief minister D. Devaraj Urs. The decision was announced at a ceremony to mark Urs’ 109th birth anniversary on Tuesday, August 20, at the Vidhana Soudha, The News Minute reported.

Siddaramaiah lauded Urs for his significant efforts in promoting social equality and improving the lives of marginalised groups, including Dalits, backward classes, minorities and women.

At the event, Siddaramaiah also recalled Urs’s crucial role in renaming the state Karnataka in 1973 after it was united in 1956, the report said. The chief minister added that the year-long celebrations to mark the renaming will culminate in November with the unveiling of a statue of Kannada Bhuvaneshwari at the Vidhana Soudha.

During the event, Siddaramaiah stressed the importance of building a just society by eradicating poverty and the caste system. He praised Devaraj Urs for his efforts in uplifting the underprivileged, including Dalits, backward classes, minorities and women. “It is also thanks to Urs that the state was renamed Karnataka in 1973, an important step after the unification of the state in 1956. The year-long celebrations of Karnataka’s renaming will conclude in November with an event to unveil a statue of Kannada Bhuvaneshwari at the Vidhana Soudha,” the chief minister said.

The concept for Electronics City was originally conceived by RK Baliga, the founder chairman and managing director of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (Keonics), the report added. Urs supported Baliga’s vision and appointed him as the head of Keonics in 1976, which led to the establishment of Electronics City.

Urs is also known for laying the foundation stone of the technology hub on a 332-acre plot at Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur on Bengaluru-Hosur Road in 1978. Electronics City, spread over 800 acres, initially housed public sector companies but quickly attracted private firms, especially during the IT boom in the 1990s.

Today, Electronics City is home to more than 200 IT/ITES companies and has contributed significantly to Bengaluru’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of India as major tech giants such as Infosys and Wipro have set up shop here.