Top 10 Indian cities to launch your startup

Gurgaon is an industrial hub based in the National Capital Region near New Delhi. The city has come a long way from the 1970s when Maruti Suzuki India Limited established a manufacturing plant here. Currently over 250 Fortune 500 companies call the city their home. Several international companies including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, IBM, American Express, Microsoft, and Bank of America have chosen the city as their India headquarters.

Hyderabad is widely known as the City of Pearls, thanks to its reputation as a pearl and diamond trading centre. In 2009 the World Bank Group ranked the city as the second best Indian city to do business. Indian companies like Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) are based here. Global conglomerates like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Yahoo!, Dell and Facebook. Major Indian enterprises including Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro also have offices here. The city and its suburbs contain the highest number of special economic zones of any Indian city.

Delhi is the Capital territory of India. It is also the largest commercial centre in North India, and houses the country’s largest and fastest growing retail industry. Construction, Power and health form vital components of the city's economy. Several consumer goods companies also have their headquarters in the city.

Mumbai is India's financial and commercial capital. Many of India's top conglomerates including Larsen and Toubro (L&T), State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance, and five of the Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Mumbai.

Chennai is known as the ‘Detroit of India’ for its booming automobile industry. 30% of India's automobile industry and 40% of its auto components industry is based here. Hyundai, Renault, Robert Bosch, Nissan Motors, Ford, BMW and Mitsubishi have manufacturing plants here. Important financial institutions like World Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have their offices here. Same for Telecom and Electronics manufacturers like Nokia, Dell, Wipro, Zebronics, Foxconn and Siemens.

Ahmedabad is known as "Manchester of the East" for its textile industry. It’s also one of the largest exporters of gemstones and jewellery in India. The Adani Group and Nirma have their corporate headquarters here. Two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies of India - Zydus Cadila and Torrent Pharmaceuticals are based in the city.

Bhubaneswar has been ranked as one of the best places to do business in India by World Bank. The city has emerged a booming trading and commercial hub in east India. Software firms like TCS, Wipro, IBM, Genpact, Firstsource and Mindtree have their offices here. Add to that several small and mid-sized IT companies and business start ups.

Coimbatore has two special economic zones (SEZ) - the Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure (CHIL) SEZ at Saravanampatti and TIDEL Park near Peelamedu. The city boasts of the second largest hub in India for Cognizant Technology Solutions and houses companies like IBM, Robert Bosch GmbH, Ford, Dell and Wipro. The city also has a large number of engineering colleges that produces lakhs of young engineers annually.

Kolkata is the prime commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India. Top Indian conglomerates like ITC Limited, Coal India Limited, National Insurance Company, Exide Industries and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. The city is also home to many industrial units operated by large public and private-sector corporations.