‘Detest hate Bengaluru gets’: Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath defends Bengaluru, says traffic criticism is unfair and public transport is the real issue

In a recent episode of his YouTube podcast, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath shared his view that Bengaluru is often unfairly criticised for its traffic problems. Speaking with two of the city’s senior police officers, Commissioner of Police B Dayananda and Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, MN Anucheth, Kamath sought to understand the deeper issues behind Bengaluru’s traffic management challenges.

While daily commutes in the city are undeniably disrupted by severe congestion—leading to significant productivity losses—Kamath, a longtime resident, expressed his frustration at the disproportionate criticism Bengaluru receives.

“I am from Bengaluru. I hate all the hate that is coming for Bengaluru. So, I want Bengaluru to look nice somehow. The criticism is totally unwarranted,” Kamath said during the podcast.

The discussion identified three possible reasons behind Bengaluru’s notorious traffic congestion. Kamath pointed to the lack of reliable public transportation as a core issue. He illustrated this with a personal anecdote, noting that construction on the Namma Metro line near his home has been ongoing for nearly a decade.

“Historically, Bengaluru has 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. In Mumbai, you had the Mumbai local, which is not the case here. Near my house on Bannerghatta Road, metro construction started, I don't know, ten years ago. It's still going on. So, at some level, like you are saying, public infra has not kept up, and maybe it can't,” Kamath added.

Kamath also noted that the considerable distance between the city centre and the airport adds to Bengaluru’s traffic woes.

“The one reason why it becomes so much in the news is, in Bombay or Delhi, for example, the airport is close by. Here (in Bengaluru) the airport is 40-50 kilometres away. So, whenever anyone lands, their first experience is a 50-kilometre drive in the city. Especially the Hebbal flyover. In Bombay, it's half the distance -or one-third the distance. That's where all the problems lie. Every major metropolitan city across the world faces the issue of traffic,” he added.

The three identified that Bengaluru’s traffic congestion is largely a result of explosive growth following the IT boom post-2000. The city's infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with the surge in population and vehicle ownership. With a population of around 1.5 crore and 1.23 crore registered vehicles, Bengaluru has one of the highest vehicle-to-population ratios in the country—872 vehicles per 1,000 people. The vehicle population alone has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%, doubling from 56 lakh to over 1.12 crore in just a few years. At this rate, infrastructure development struggles to keep up.

Recognising this, Kamath and the police officers he spoke to, highlighted the urgent need to prioritise public transport. They pointed to initiatives like the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP), led by K-RIDE—a joint venture between the Karnataka government and Indian Railways—as key to improving connectivity. Expanding the metro network and increasing the public transport fleet are seen as essential steps.