Overview
- On October 21, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw met Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at his residence and later called on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to extend Diwali greetings, with some reports noting she also delivered a wedding invitation.
- The meetings followed days of sharp exchanges after she cited an overseas visitor’s questions about Bengaluru’s roads and garbage, with ministers pushing back and Shivakumar alleging a personal agenda that she publicly rejected.
- Mazumdar-Shaw has offered to fund repairs of select Bengaluru roads, a move Congress MP P. Chidambaram welcomed as a “great offer” while stressing that the core problem is execution rather than money.
- Chidambaram suggested a model where governments use public tenders and funds but allow willing companies to supervise projects and bear responsibility for quality, timelines and penalties.
- Shivakumar said industry leaders would cooperate on Bengaluru’s development and announced stakeholder meetings with local bodies and IT/BT representatives, though any formal public–private arrangements and execution details remain unsettled.