Bengaluru City University to be renamed after Manmohan Singh

The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to rename Bengaluru City University as Dr Manmohan Singh Bengaluru City University.

As per the bill, the amendment to the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, (Karnataka Act 29 of 2001) was deemed necessary to honour the legacy of Manmohan Singh -- an esteemed economist, academician, bureaucrat, and statesman who spearheaded economic reforms in the nation and served as Prime Minister for two successive terms.

The state cabinet had approved the proposal in July, and the renaming was first announced during the Karnataka budget speech on March 7. The move makes this the first university in the country to bear Dr Singh’s name.

Manmohan Singh is closely associated with a clutch of Bengaluru infrastructure milestones completed during his tenure as prime minister.

In 2008, he inaugurated the city’s new international airport—now Kempegowda International Airport—giving Bengaluru a modern gateway that rapidly grew into a key hub for south India.

Three years later, he presided over the launch of Namma Metro’s first stretch, flagging off the inaugural train between Baiyappanahalli and MG Road—an opening that set the template for a mass-transit network which has since reshaped daily commutes across the city.