One Reddit post tore open the debate over what really defines Bengaluru. A user recounted how a friend from Patna casually dropped the line: "Without IT, Bengaluru would be like some city in Bihar."
The friend didn’t stop there — "All these improved areas, high-rise buildings are all because of IT," he insisted.
But what seemed like a passing comment triggered a fierce backlash from locals, who say reducing Bengaluru to just an IT hub is not only ignorant but erases the real spine of the city — industries, PSUs, and decades of groundwork that predate the tech boom.
"If you are a localite you would surely know the number of manufacturing factories we have in Peenya. There is a reason why Peenya was extended as Peenya Industrial town," a user fired back, invoking one of Asia’s largest industrial clusters.
And Peenya isn’t alone. "Apart from that, look at the number of PSUs we have. BEL, BHEL, Mysore Sandal, HAL, ISRO, DRDO — everything from space to road. These central government PSUs could have gone to Bihar and invested as well, but they didn't because of lack of infra. Infra of a city comes in the state list. Tell your friend that industries invest in a state because of the infra they provide and infra isn't provided based on the industries."
Challenging the notion that Bengaluru starts and ends with Koramangala and Whitefield, the user added, "Tell him/her to get out of his IT bubble and see the real Bangalore, which isn't restricted to Koramangala, Whitefield, Bellandur and Electronic City. We consider those areas to be a part of Bengaluru just on paper."
And as for those who think Bengaluru will collapse if the IT sector stumbles, locals were quick to remind that the city was built on more than code and startups. "If IT industry faces a downfall, which it'll surely do looking at the current Trump regime and how 70% of IT is dependent on the US, Bengalurians wouldn't be affected. Just the people from outside Karnataka would be affected because our forefathers have made enough for our survival which doesn't depend on IT. All in all, if IT grows we'll benefit but if IT falls we don't lose."