Nikhil Kamath says metro work near his Bengaluru home has dragged on for 10 years

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, defends Bengaluru's traffic issues, citing inadequate public transport and the airport's distance.

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath believes Bengaluru gets an unfair amount of criticism for its traffic woes. In a recently released YouTube conversation with two of the city’s top police officers, Kamath set out to understand why the Karnataka capital is so often derided for its gridlock—and what can be done about it.

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, talks about Bengaluru's traffic woes (Instagram/nikhilkamathcio)

Speaking with IPS officers B Dayananda (Commissioner of Police) and MN Anucheth (Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic), Kamath pointed to the lack of reliable public transport as a key issue. He also shared a personal example, saying that construction work on the Namma Metro line near his home has been ongoing for nearly a decade.

Bengaluru’s traffic woes

Nikhil Kamath, who has described himself as a Bangalore Boy through and through on several occasions, reiterated this on the podcast.

“As someone from Bangalore, I’ve been a bit bothered by how much flak we get, especially about traffic. So I set out to see if the criticism is fair, and what’s actually being done about it,” he wrote.

During his conversation with Bengaluru top cops, the 38-year-old billionaire repeated this point again. “I am from Bangalore. I hate all the hate that is coming for Bangalore,” he said.

In trying to understand why Bengaluru traffic gets so much hate, Kamath theorised that the distance between the main city and the airport plays a role. “I think the one reason why it becomes so much in the news is in Bombay or Delhi, for example, the airport is close by. Here the airport is 40-50 kilometres away. So whenever anyone lands, their first experience is a 50-kilometre drive in the city,” said the Zerodha billionaire.

Lack of public transport

Kamath, Dayananda and Anucheth also touched upon the lack of public transport in Bengaluru.

“Historically, Bangalore has had this problem of lack of public transport facilities. The only public transport facilities before the metro came in was the BMTC buses. Unlike other cities like Kolkata, you had the trams. In Delhi, you had the metro,” explained IPS officer MN Anucheth.

Kamath interjected at this point to talk about his personal experience, revealing that Namma Metro construction work near his house has been ongoing for 10 years.

“Near my house on Bannerghatta Road, metro construction started, I don't know, ten years ago. It's still going on,” he revealed.

Kamath had revealed in October last year that he bought a house in Bengaluru, ditching his long-held philosophy of renting instead of buying.