Anand Mahindra claims it is time for India to have a city like Shenzhen, but faces harsh criticism online.
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The city of Shenzhen, located in China, is known as a major global tech hub and is often compared to Silicon Valley due to its rapid development. Just forty years ago, Shenzhen was a small fishing village, and today it is home to some of the most recognized companies in the country, such as BYD, Tencent, Huawei, and Alibaba, among others. This transformation has earned it the nickname "Silicon Valley of Hardware."
With a population that makes it the third most populous city in China, Shenzhen is also home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has a GDP of $517 billion, surpassing that of Hong Kong. Additionally, it boasts the fifth highest number of billionaires and the second highest number of skyscrapers globally. The city is a focal point that combines research institutions, financial centers, and tech hubs.
Recently, industrialist Anand Mahindra, known for his social media posts, suggested the need to establish a city in India that could be comparable to Shenzhen. His comment sparked a wave of responses and jokes on social media, with several users mentioning the city of Dholera as an innovative example that could rival Shenzhen.
Witty comments on Twitter pointed out that Dholera and other "smart city" projects already exceed Shenzhen's standards. Some users even joked about the lack of interest from entrepreneurs in developing true infrastructures in these cities, while others suggested placing the future "Shenzhen" in states like Bihar, implying that entrepreneurship should be bolder.
Reactions ranged from humor to irony, reflecting an active debate on urban development and the future of infrastructure in India. This phenomenon on Twitter highlights both the aspirations and criticisms of the effectiveness of urban planning in the country.