New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- Bengaluru's emergence as India's technology capital may have had an unlikely connection with Kolkata, according to economist Sanjeev Sanyal. Looking back at the two cities' contrasting economic trajectories, Sanyal argued that the migration of talent away from Kolkata helped fuel the rise of Bengaluru's technology ecosystem.

Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, made the remarks during a podcast conversation with Abhijit Majumder, co-founder of The Bengal Inc.

Recounting Kolkata's earlier position in India's technology landscape, Sanyal recalled an incident involving IBM and its mainframe computers.

"I remember distinctly that when IBM was bringing in big mainframe computers, the...