Mangaluru Has Potential to Emerge as Major Tech, Business Hub: LK Atheeq

He was speaking as the chief guest at Mangaluru Technovanza 2026 and later participated in the dialogue on Policy, Industry and Capital for Mangaluru.

Atheeq said the city was gradually developing an ecosystem, but the availability of infrastructure would be crucial to its growth.

“Small it is, but still Mangaluru is emerging as an ecosystem where most of the ingredients are coming together. One of the key ingredients that is needed would be infrastructure,” he said.

He stated that the region has around 25 engineering colleges producing about 50,000 engineering graduates, besides Mangaluru University and the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal.

He spoke about the City having an entrepreneurial culture, particularly because of its historical association with the banking sector.

Referring to the special Cabinet meeting held in Mangaluru on September 18, he said several decisions taken by the government could help strengthen the region's economic potential.

These included the Coastal and Malnad Karnataka Tourism Policy and the Sustainable Data Centre Policy.

Given Mangaluru's coastal location and availability of water, the data centre policy could provide significant opportunities for the region, he said.

“We are looking to set up more data centres. We are hoping that we should get an investor in a cable landing station. People are speaking to us about it,” he said, adding that the government was also looking at new technology parks.

Comparing the city's potential with Singapore and Dubai, he said Mangaluru had advantages such as water, land, power availability, human resources and its location.

“We are now focusing on creating more clusters beyond Bengaluru,” he said.

Atheeq said the government was looking at developing vibrant economic clusters in Mysuru- Chamarajanagar, Mangaluru- Udupi-Manipal, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi and Kalaburagi.
He said the focus of each cluster could be different.

“This region we are talking about IT-BT, but we need to diversify. We need to diversify in smart tourism, eco-friendly tourism, and water sports. We have a beautiful sea coast, but nobody was actually surfing. Suddenly over the last 3-4 years, this is emerging as the surfing capital of the country,” he stated.

Atheeq said NITK Director Professor Ravi had offered to provide land on the campus for a data centre, calling it a “great gesture.”

He also called for regular interaction between industry and institutions such as Visvesvaraya Technological University to ensure that academic curricula remained relevant to industry requirements.

Speaking about the land available for the expansion of industrial areas in the region, Atheeq said the KIADB had issued the final notification for a 350-acre industrial estate at Balkunje, about 30 km from Mangaluru.

“If there is a demand from the IT sector, then we can carve out a 100-acre IT park there,” he said.
He said other land parcels were also being examined, including about 350 acres under the control of the New Mangalore Port Authority that was not being utilised.

Land at Padubidri and parcels returned from JESCO were also being examined, he said, adding that the government needed to bring together various stakeholders, including developers, to create the required infrastructure.

On the proposed Fisheries and Ocean Studies University, Atheeq said the intake could eventually be increased from 60 to 200 students, with around 1,000 students, including those pursuing master's and PhD programmes, over the next five years.

He said the institution needed to look beyond fisheries and examine areas such as oceanography, marine studies and seaweed cultivation.

“There are other aspects, like, for example, seaweed culture is something that we were talking about. The proposed university could also help create skilled human resources in maritime engineering and for the merchant navy, besides strengthening ocean studies and fisheries development, he added.