A social media post by Biocon chairperson and Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw reignited the long-running debate on the city’s strained infrastructure on Monday, after she shared a graphic comparing road lengths and vehicle numbers across six major Indian cities.
The graphic, posted on X, showed Delhi with 32,000 km of roads and 154 lakh vehicles, while Bengaluru trailed with 12,878 km of roads but had an alarmingly high 120 lakh vehicles—the second-highest in the country despite its much smaller road network.
Shaw captioned the post with a blunt assessment: “We are woefully short of roads.” The remark triggered a storm of reactions, critiques and counterpoints, with many arguing that the problem is far more complex than road length alone. Notably, Shaw did not share the source of the data cited in the graphic.
Users question the comparison
Several users took issue with comparing Delhi—a full-fledged state—with Bengaluru, a municipal corporation.
“Again, a wrong comparison, Delhi is a state while Bangalore is a city. If you add Lal Dora village roads, the picture changes,” one user wrote, though they agreed both cities need “encroachment-free, wider roads.”
Others pushed back against the implication that Bengaluru’s problem stems solely from inadequate asphalt. “We’re drowning in private cars and starving for decent public transport,” another user said. “No amount of asphalt can outrun exponential vehicle growth. The fix isn’t wider roads; it’s hard caps on new registrations, ruthless congestion pricing, and traffic systems that punish single-occupancy metal boxes instead of rewarding them.”
A commenter highlighted the fiscal contradiction: “Imagine the road tax revenue with so many cars—yet governments claim they can’t maintain 12,000 km of roads. Wrong. Bengaluru needs to move people, not vehicles.”
Broader mobility concerns emerge
Much of the online discussion centred on the deeper structural issues behind Bengaluru’s congestion, including limited mass transit coverage, slow expansion of metro lines, weak last-mile connectivity, and decades of car-centric planning.
Users contrasted Indian cities with global transport models. “Cities in Europe, Singapore and Japan are more pleasant despite density because they invest in mass transit and keep vehicles off roads through heavy taxes,” one user said.
“In the Netherlands, people cycle to work,” another added, noting that mobility choices—not just road lengths—define urban liveability.
Ever-rising vehicle density
Shaw’s post resurfaces a grim metric: Bengaluru has nearly 9 vehicles per metre of road, almost double Delhi’s 4.8. While Mumbai and Pune reportedly fare worse, Bengaluru’s rapid growth, booming tech ecosystem and slow infrastructure expansion make the gridlock particularly severe.
Shaw has repeatedly used social media to flag Bengaluru’s infrastructural shortcomings, urging the Karnataka government to act decisively. Her latest intervention, amplified widely across social platforms, underscores the urgency of rethinking urban mobility as the city continues to expand at a blistering pace.