Top Tier 2 IT Cities in India

India has several cities that can be termed as ‘growth engines of the country’ and the main reason why these cities have seen a spurt in growth is because land is cheaper and has easy access to educated manpower. These are Tier 2 cities that have facilitated the growth of several IT companies, and over the years, the quality, lifestyle and walk-to-work concept have all contributed to the success of these cities. The emergence of software companies have led to the rise of retail companies, where several retail giants have started their operations, thereby strengthening the economy of the country. While real estate became cheaper, affordable housing evolved in these cities, making life easier for IT professionals. With this short intro about Tier 2 cities, let us now look at the main cities that have expanded to accommodate the growing demands in the IT sector:

Kochi

When tier 1 cities began to burst at the seams, and couldn’t accommodate any more expansions, tier 2 cities became popular. Kochi, the tech capital of Kerala is one of the first in the list. The city offers excellent opportunities for companies looking for better infrastructure at reduced rates. Kochi has a fully functioning IT park in Kakkanad and Kochi Smart City, another new trendsetter IT project is just along the way. When you look at infrastructure, you can say that Kochi has the best lands for office space, excellent telecom connectivity, national and international connectivity through broadband. Additionally, Kochi now has its own recently launched metro rail system, adding to the ease and accessibility within the city.

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, the temple city of Orissa, is now going to be known as an IT hub as well. The city is presently looking like how Bengaluru used to look in the early 1990s. Several new buildings are being erected, in the city and many new start-ups, both national and foreign have the graced the soil of this city. Infosys, TCS, Mind Tree have all started posh offices in the city, and native IT start-ups like ESSPL and AABSys have started their offices in the city and went on to become medium sized companies.

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh and a well-known tourism destination. Now the city is expanding to become a huge IT destination as well, thanks to its excellent accessibility and modern infrastructure. Jaipur has been ranked 6 among all the Indian cities in terms of growth. Before Jaipur became a IT hub, it was a major trading center.

Jaipur

Jaipur is know as Pink city and is evolving to become a great urban center. The city is also ranked to be the 31st city among 50 emerging cities in the world. Jaipur is no longer just a beautiful city with lovely palaces, forts and historical buildings, it has several huge IT companies waiting in the pipeline as well. Several ongoing projects like the IT park, Jaipur International Center and Jaipur Metro are all elevating the position of this city from a historically important place to a major investment hub.

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, a huge city in Gujarat is well-known for its huge infrastructure and highly sophisticated transportation system. Airport and road infrastructures are also excellent, encouraging investment from major companies.

Chandigargh

Chandigargh is credited to be the first Indian city to be modernized after independence. Now, the added infrastructure has only added to the advantage of the city, making it one of the most sought after cities for IT companies. There have been significant changes in the real estate industry as well, so plenty of posh offices, housing apartments and retail shops have opened up. The city is well connected by roads, airport and rails, making it easily accessible for business requirements.

Surat

From now on, Surat is not going to be known for its diamonds alone, it is going to gain fame as an IT hub as well. Excellent infrastructural facilities and access to better roadways and rail have prompted many people to invest in Surat.

Nagpur

Popularly known as the orange city of India, Nagpur is now going to be known for its IT infrastructural facilities as well. Starting a company in Nagpur is easy because land is cheaper there when compared to other Tier 2 cities. The city is centrally located and thus invites investment from several international and national companies.

Rajkot

Rajkot is currently witnessing a huge growth in the software industry and more and more companies are coming forward to invest in the city. The city is growing like Bengalurru and you can expect it to grow quickly as well.
Each of these cities, thus, has excellent potential to become IT hubs, which increases their attractiveness to investors. As these cities are well into their development stage, the real estate sector is also pretty strong, with excellent transportation and connectivity options.
You have New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkatta and Hyderabad as Tier 1 cities. Tier 1 cities are those cities that have had huge commercial success over the years, and the growth in these cities has been so rapid, that it had reached a saturation point. These cities cannot grow anymore and so businesses are expanding to other cities because they are cheaper and have enormous potential for growth. That’s why these cities are called Tier 2 cities. Several cities in India have the potential to become Tier 2 cities, and most of them are mentioned above.

Interesting links about the topic:

Best 10 Offbeat cities India to settle in
Which is one of India’s fastest growing Tier 2 cities?

Pictures: Flickr.com/ Sammu/ Porter/ sandeepachetan/ Lakhmani


The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.

1 Comment
  1. i am a kochite. and for your information kochi has not launched its metro rail till now though they plan to inaugrate first run in september,its not connecting with any of the it hubs .the next phase planning is only about that and that may take years before a succesfull run with the type of govt here.

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