ORR powers 18% of India’s IT exports but commutes take 70 minutes: Industry leaders push for rapid fixes
Prestige Group CEO cites massive economic opportunities on Bengaluru’s ORR
Bengaluru:
The Outer Ring Road (ORR) — the backbone of India’s tech industry — needs immediate, coordinated intervention to restore mobility and productivity, Prestige Group Executive Director and CEO Juggy Marwaha said after a high-level roundtable involving global tech occupiers, real estate developers and senior Karnataka government officials.
Sharing his remarks from the Goldman Sachs–hosted meeting led by ORR Companies Association (ORRCA), Marwaha said the corridor’s economic significance is so large that “if ORR Bengaluru were a state, it would rank sixth or seventh in India by GDP”.
The 9-km stretch powers over 18% of India’s US$150-billion IT exports and is home to around eight lakh professionals who generate ₹1.75–2.25 lakh crore annually, he noted.
Despite its importance, the CEO said the lived reality remains dire, with a 5 km commute often taking 55–70 minutes, costing millions of productive hours each day. He pointed to Whitefield as an example of how infrastructure can dramatically ease congestion: “After the Metro opened, traffic dropped, congestion eased, and productivity was restored.”
Marwaha said the meeting marked a turning point, shifting the tone from “frustration to joint action”.
Under the leadership of Karnataka’s IT Minister Priyank Kharge, senior IAS officers Maheshwar Rao and RK Misra, and ORRCA, global companies including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Google, State Street, Morgan Stanley, Intel, Oracle and Intuit agreed on a unified recovery plan for ORR.
Key decisions include:
- Formation of a joint ORR Action & Monitoring Committee that will meet every 45 days
- Strict tracking of the ₹450-crore ORR upgradation project
- Monthly transparency dashboards on project progress
- Rapid fixes to service roads, junction choke points, lighting, drainage and telecom ducts
“Every minute saved per commuter strengthens India’s economic engine,” Marwaha said.
The group also reaffirmed a shared, non-negotiable goal of commencing full ORR Metro operations by December 2026. ORRCA, developers and the government will work with BMRCL to achieve the deadline.
Marwaha revealed that Prestige Group has begun work — under a PPP + CSR commitment — to widen, redesign and landscape the entire Prestige Lakeshore Drive–Bellandur Lake Road stretch. The objective is to create a “walking boulevard” and a safe, green, mobility-friendly corridor supporting the broader ORR ecosystem.
“This is the Bengaluru we believe in — collaborative, fast and future-ready,” he said, calling on industry and government to “rebuild ORR stronger”.
The joint initiative includes contributions from multiple developers and office park operators such as Embassy, Bagmane, Brookfield, Kalyani Developers, Sattva, and Prestige Office Ventures, alongside ORRCA leadership.