growing by leaps and bounds1].pdfzonal council and managing director, demag cranes & components...
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...BM-X
THE HINDU ● BUSINESS LINE, Monday, June 21, 2010
Alka Kshirsagar
With a location that’s less than200 km, and a mere 200 min-utes drive away, from Mum-
bai, Pune is often called the satellite ofthe metropolis. Tradition has accordedthe smaller city with the status of beingMaharashtra’s cultural capital andanointed the other as the country’s busi-ness capital. But those in the know willcertify that on economic and industrialfronts, Pune has been growing with afierce vengeance.
“Pune has an interesting blend of Indi-an and multinational companies. Andthis is not a recent phenomenon. Thisblend has resulted in a work culture thatnaturally supports global businesses.This, in my opinion, is its strength,” saysMr Suhas Baxi, Chairman, CII PuneZonal Council and Managing Director,Demag Cranes & Components (I) PvtLtd.
This, perhaps, is one of the reasonswhy the first Hybrid ManufacturingCluster in India, inaugurated on May 24,was set up by the CII in Pune. Under theleadership of Mr C. Narasimhan, ChiefAdviser, CII National Cluster Pro-gramme, nine mid-size heavy engineer-ing industry units from Ahmednagar,Pune and Mumbai will be provided guid-ance on becoming world-classcompanies.
NUMBERS SPEAKThe city’s rapid economic developmentis clearly reflected in the Economic Sur-vey of Maharashtra 2009-10. The latestreport on the State’s industrial and fi-nancial health affirms that when itcomes to contributing to the kitty, Punedivision has overtaken the “MaximumCity”.
Consider the following: Taken at cur-rent prices, the preliminary figure for2008-09 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)of Pune division (Pune, Satara, Sangli,Solapur Kolhapur) at Rs 1,55,197 crore isthe highest among seven divisions in thestate, beating even Mumbai by around
half a per cent. In this context, it is rele-vant that Maharashtra’s GDP at Rs6,92,749 crore is 14.4 per cent of that ofIndia.
Further number crunching revealsmore statistics that are indicative of thegrowing economic importance of thecity and its surrounding areas, broadlyreferred to as the Pune region.
Pune contributed over Rs 6,400 croremore than Mumbai to the State kitty,generating Rs 1,34,922 crore, which is
22.6 per cent of the total income (netState Domestic Product) of Rs 5,97,542crore. Mumbai’s contribution stood atRs 1,28,511 crore or 21.5 per cent.
CONTRIBUTING FACTORSIt is easy to figure out why industry inPune has grown rapidly in the five dec-ades since the first industries began ap-pearing on the Mumbai-Pune road in thelate fifties: the climate is pleasant nine to10 months, the innumerable educational
institutions, including the over 100-year-old engineering college, produce anarmy of qualified workforce, and the cityis well connected by road, rail and air.The decision to set up an industrial es-tate put all the factors necessary to give afillip to industrial growth.
Today, Pune is not only home to In-dia’s biggest automobile company, TataMotors, and the second largest two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto, recent timeshave seen several large original equip-
ment manufacturers (OEMs) setting upbase here giving it the moniker India’sown “Motown”.
On the engineering industry front,companies headquartered here includeThermax, Praj, Cummins, KirloskarBrothers, Kirloskar Pneumatics, Kirlos-kar Oil Engines, Alfa Laval, Atlas Copco,SKF, Forbes Marshall and Finolex. Windenergy major Suzlon has recently movedinto its spanking new corporate office atHadapsar.
In addition, several global equipmentmanufacturers such as JCB, HyundaiHeavy Industries, Sany Heavy Industri-es and white goods makers such asWhirlpool, Haier and LG have manu-facturing units in Pune.
MSME EXPLOSIONThe growth of the MSME segment (mi-cro, small and medium enterprises) inthe region has been equally robust. Ac-cording to statistics compiled by theMahratta Chamber of Commerce Indus-try and Agriculture (MCCIA), as of No-vember 30, 2009, the number of MSMEsin Pune was 56,663, which is 37.4 percent of those in the State, generatingemployment for 3,01,098.
The corresponding numbers pertain-ing to Mumbai are 12,341 and 1,06,214respectively.
The number of co-operative industrialunits in operation in Pune is 3,000, near-ly 50 per cent of that in Maharashtra.
While the engineering and auto indus-try provide the backbone of manufactur-ing sector, the agro industry isrepresented through a Food Park (toprocess agro produce) at Shirwal, sever-al wineries and a Floriculture Park atTalegaon.
Pune is one of the major hubs for theIT industry in the country. During 2008-09, software exports from the region to-talled $5,228 million, accounting for 60per cent of the $8,786 million from Mah-arashtra.
In tandem with business, banks toohave seen major growth. Pune is theheadquarters for Bank of Maharashtra –which recently turned 75 – as it is forseveral co-op banks.
According to the RBI, as of December31, 2009, Pune has 460 bank brancheswith around Rs 57,000 crore of depositsand Rs 41,000 crore of advances. It is theseventh largest centre in India in termsof deposits and eight largest borrower,contributing almost 1.35 per cent to all-India deposits and 1.37 per cent of theoverall loans/advances.
Growing by leaps and bounds
The Mumbai Pune expressway. — Paul Noronha
BLEF Mumbai/ 1 Front_Pg User: cci 06-19-2010 20:56 Color: CMYK