Emerging Tech Hubs in South Asia: The List of Top 5 in 2025 by Wild.Codes

Most experts prefer to use the term Asia Pacific for a large territory to the south. But it is reasonable to divide all the countries here into South Asian and South-East Asian ones. Both groups are notable for streamlined progress in economics, education, and digitalization over the last five years. It goes without saying that the number of emerging tech hubs in South Asia is also ever-rising in 2025.

According to the GSMA research, there are five countries in this region with the most developed technological sector. India is in first place among startups, coworking spaces, educational IT centers, conferences, and many more. Four other countries that demonstrate fast technological development and have become South Asian tech hubs are Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. 

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The IT sector plays a significant role in South Asia while making the economy in the above-listed countries more assertive and competitive. According to the World Bank report, 2020-2025 were the years of progress in this region, with increased education, urbanization, Internet coverage, and the implementation of public digital apps, etc.

Here is a list of achievements that characterize South Asian tech hubs:

• India represented the special-purpose API called India Stack - an all-in-one application programming interface with numerous options for citizens, including digital identification, electronic signatures, etc.

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• A new identification system was developed in Sri Lanka by ICTA. The national ID system here became more accessible for vulnerable people in 2024.
• Bangladesh is successful in the implementation of educational programs, including information technologies. 
• Nepal is notable with numerous fintech startups. Most of the projects are focused on crowdfunding and loan lifecycle management.
• Pakistan is only on its way to digital transformation. One of the soundest achievements in 2024 is the establishment of updated digital financial services (precision agriculture, industry 4.0, etc.).

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It goes without saying that not all South Asian regions have the same fast-paced progress in digital services and the IT sector as Baltic countries or emerging tech hubs from Latin America. Nevertheless, software developers from South Asia have affordable hourly rates and high-level motivation to be employed by reputable technological companies. Let’s check the biggest tech hubs here to consider in 2025.

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1. India

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Emerging tech hubs in South Asia are impossible without Indian cities that play a significant role in today’s IT sector. According to the DistantJob statistics, there are more than 5.8 million developers in India in 2024. The most popular programming language here is Python - about 31% of Indian software engineers are skillful in PY algorithms.

Among other widespread Indian developers’ competencies are JAVA (22.16%), Javascript (9.87%), C/C++ (8.12%), and C#: 6.67%. The most significant cities for the IT sector in India are:

• Delhi-NCR;
• Bengaluru;
• Hyderabad;
• Pune. 

Here, the tech conferences and other similar events are arranged. For example, Pune will host WordCamp in February 2025. While Bengaluru will be the place of two other offline events for programmers in India - India DevOps Show 2025 and Experts Live India 2025. 

The ever-developing IT sector in this South Asian country forced numerous famous companies to have local offices in Indian cities - Amazon, Meta, and Google in Hyderabad, Microsoft in Noida, etc. Additionally, India has numerous IT companies with an astonishing market cap and impressive employee headcount. It is expected that this tech hub in South Asia will demonstrate more and more top-ranking results in 2025. 

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2. Bangladesh

Most experts state that Bangladesh can compete with India in the context of leadership in the IT sector by 2030. According to the Datamites survey, digital services and programming reached a maximum market share in the country - $2 billion and initiated fast GDP growth.

The main tech hubs in Bangladesh are cities with more than a million population, like Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna. There, over 6.500 startups are registered. 4,500 local IT companies have offices in these cities. Among huge corporations that have departments in Bangladesh are:

• Deloitte;
• Amazon;
• IBM;
• AFD, etc.

The overall number of programmers in this South Asian country is more than 300,000. Most software engineers make a specialty out of Python, Jaca, and C#. Various IT conferences take place in Bangladesh. For example, Regional Scrum Gathering 2025 is planned there.

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3. Sri Lanka

Despite the fact that Sri Lanka is a small South Asian country, its IT talent pool is rapidly developing today. STEM education is promoted here. Now, there are more than 80,000 developers in Sri Lanka. That is why this country hit the list of emerging tech hubs in South Asia in 2025.

Most programmers are skillful in HTML, JS, Angular, React, mobile development, .Net, etc. Among the most renowned IT companies in Sri Lanka are Rushkar Technology Private Limited, Code District, Simform, etc. It is worth noting that the number of startups is ever-rising as well. Most offices are located in Colombo and Dehiwala.

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4. Pakistan

Pakistan is an underestimated country in South Asia in the context of information technologies. According to the Statista report, the IT service market here is going to reach $31.2 billion in 2025. 

The number of tech startups in Pakistan is expected to grow this year. According to Gaper’s survey, the biggest number of projects are focused on medical care software development (256) and educational app development (334). Most IT coworking spaces, regional offices, and other programmers’ hubs are located in big cities of Pakistan, like Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad.

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5. Nepal

IT outsourcing competes with tourism in Nepal in the context of domestic market share. The IT sector is going to bring about $106 million in 2025, according to the Statista forecast. By 2029, these figures are expected to increase by 4 times (about $400 million). There are more than 136 IT companies in Nepal that provide UX/UI design services, software development, branding, etc.

The overall number of technicians in this South Asian country is about 50.000. It is worth noting that about 80% are employed by American companies and firms from Europe. Most developers live and work in big cities of Nepal, like Pokhara, Kathmandu, and Bharatpur.

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Summarizing 

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