Kalam saw Bengaluru as world-class metropolis

It was a decade ago on a Sunday that former president A P J Abdul Kalam gave a 60-minute PowerPoint presentation to 300 legislators of Karnataka and a host of special invitees on how to take the state forward.
Addressing the special joint session of the state legislature on November 21, 2005, to mark Suvarna Karnataka celebrations (50th year of the state's reorganization), Kalam reminded the state government to make Bengaluru a world-class “development facilitator“.“I have seen Bengaluru in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and now. Bengaluru's economic growth has far exceeded the growth of development facilitators. The core attraction of the city being a development facilitator is getting slowly eroded,'' he added.
“For a state which has given the world the first war rocket, pioneer in science and technology revolutions, creating development facilitating environment commensurate with the economic and industrial growth is not an impossible task,'' Kalam said.
However, all this could be achieved if tier-2 cities in the state around places like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Bela g avi, Kalabura gi and Kodagu are developed, he had said. The Missile Man had chalked out 11 missions for the government to take up in textiles, energy (biofuel mission and power through municipal waste), horticulture, ag roprocessing, water management and tourism.