Efforts are on to give Kanpur, the iconic Manchester of the East of the 20th century and once the biggest industrial hub of northern India, a facelift. Despite being the industrial capital of Uttar Pradesh and making a huge contribution to the state?s economy in terms of the state?s domestic product, employment and foreign exchange earnings, the city lacks basic infrastructure and facilities. The Confederation of Indian Industry has now taken the lead and is conducting an interface in Kanpur with the industry and senior state government functionaries.
?Kanpur is one of the biggest industrial hubs of Uttar Pradesh and the industry here has contributed significantly to UP?s economy. More than 17,000 large, medium and small scale industrial units in Kanpur directly employ over 1,25,000 workers with a much higher indirect employment due to the multiplier effect. Industrial investments, at the current economic value, amount to several thousand crores and its annual exports stand at Rs 2,500 crore, with the overall industrial output running several times higher. In such a scenario, we at CII believe Kanpur portrays immense potential but the basic infrastructure and other issues remain inadequately addressed over the years. Considering the importance of the issue, we are trying to get address them in this interactive meet,? says Anil Shukla, head of CII, UP.
Among the issues that need urgent redressal are air connectivity, credit concerns and better living conditions?to attract the best of talent and industry. ?The greatest disadvantage of Kanpur is that it does not have any sort of infrastructure and that does not mean just roads and electricity but also minimum living conditions. Apart from being an acutely dirty city, it does not have proper sewage, cleanliness and decent eating joints where people can take their families out. This is a major reason why we are unable to attract good talent to the city. No one seems to be concerned about this, no government functionary has the time to listen to our woes,? says PK Bhargava, CMD EMA India, which provides machine tools to the automotive industry.
?Air connectivity is another major issue that needs to be addressed if things are to be improved in the city,? says another industrialist, requesting anonymity. ?A large number of businessmen travel by air from Kanpur, but given the lack of an airport and the unavailability of night landing at the civilian air strip at Chakeri, they have to either settle for expensive options of hiring a chartered flight or fly enroute Lucknow or Delhi to reach to their commercial destinations?.
Located along national highways, NH 2 and NH 25, Kanpur has the leverage of being one of the biggest producers and exporters of textile and leather products, food processing, plastic industry etc and also has availability of skilled manpower as many institutes are located within Kanpur. However, despite this, Kanpur has seen a downhill growth. ?Many segments, like leather, soaps and detergents, paan masala and hosiery, are strong in Kanpur but government apathy has stunted their growth. The industrialists are in need of support in matters related to transfer of plots and inspection of industries. Credit concerns, too, take up a lot of effort. There is undue delay of genuine applications in the name of incomplete submissions and industrialists covet the bankers to disclose the list of documents required and incomplete sections without further ado,? says another industrialist.
?For the industry to grow, we need infrastructure to stand a chance to compete with Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad or even Bubaneswar. As things stand today, despite being the second-largest revenue earner for the state, industries of Kanpur are still struggling with breaking infrastructure,?says Bhargava.