A city going hammer and tongs
Jalandhar, for long the poor cousin of Ludhiana, is fast coming into its own. The city is a case study for globalisation at work. Its growth story is unique in two respects: it’s exports-led and manufacture-driven; and it lies in the Doaba area of Punjab, home to a staggering 6 million non-resident Indians—a population equal to that of New Zealand’s.
A major trigger for growth is a property boom, which appears speculative. Says real estate consultant Arjit Kapooria, “On the Grand Trunk Road that flanks the city, the government-auctioned price for an acre of land three years ago was Rs 50 lakh. Today, in the smae area, it’s a staggering Rs 4 crore.
A large part of this growth is fuelled by the buying spree of NRIs.”
Land authorities estimate that NRIs have ploughed Rs 300 crore into buying property in the doaba in the last five years. Add to that the industrial growth, and the exuberance in the property market appears rational. Reliance and DLF are looking for large plots. Fourteen malls are under construction in the Jalandhar area and Radisson has set up a 5-star hotel in the heart of the city.
The driver for this growth is connectivity between Jalandhar and nearby towns. As one approaches Jalandhar, one can see work along the highways for miles around. The Ambala-Jalandhar road is being six-laned; so’s the one connecting the city with Ludhiana.
Exports are where Jalandhar really shines. With Indian exports growing 27% in 2006, these are good times for the city. It leads India in the exports of hand tools, Sports goods and leather. Says Surjit Jolly of the Sports Goods Manufacturing Association, “Sports goods are a true free-market story.
We get no sops from the governm-ent, yet we export Rs 600-crore worth of goods.
If, like Pakistan, we get non-duty imports for raw material, this industry can become a Rs 5,000-crore business within five years.”
Jalandhar is also a focal point for leather with estimated exports of Rs 300 crore last year. However, like elsewhere, globalisation and competition have also brought pain to the city. It is consolidation time, and smaller units are finding survival difficult. The high duty on machinery that the industry needs is also an impediment to growth.
Since Jalandhar is a manufacture-driven growth story, it has created enormous employment opportunities. With an estimated 3.5 lakh migrant workers from eastern UP, Bihar and Orissa, social tension is also growing. Locals can’t do without the labour and yet there is an undercurrent of resentment. I decide to visit a local liquor shop at the eastern edge of the city. It is a tough and dangerous place. Fights break out without warning over trivial issues.
I am sitting next to Hamid Rahim from Barabanki in UP. He and his friends work at a foreign Sports goods manufacturer’s outlet. The working conditions, they tell me over packs of country liquor, are as bad as before but the pay is better.
Semi-skilled labour gets about Rs 2,000 a month plus overtime. Even then there is shortage of labour. Says Rahim: “The real issue is lack of proper places to stay. If we had hygienic dormitories, we could save so much more money.” Is Jalandhar Inc listening?
On my last day in town, I meet the perfect example of the change that in engulfing this city. In Model Town, the downtown shopping arcade, I walk into a very busy shop swarming with youth. It’s a tattoo shop. I chat up Pammi Ahuja, 23, who is looking for a new kind of globalisation-induced opportunity. Having finished her airline course and English diction course, she has recently been hired by a foreign airline. She is morose though as she can’t have a tattoo (the airline forbids them). Globalisation, however, is leaving a mark on her life perhaps without her even realising it in this bustling city of Punjab notorious for female foeticide.
In Jalandhar, you realise that for India to sustain job growth, industrial production and manufacture hold the key. A recent Cap Gemini report hinted that India might yet become a manufacturing hub of the world to compete with China. For that to happen, a thousand Jalandhars will need to boom.
Jalandhar, for long the poor cousin of Ludhiana, is fast coming into its own. The city is a case study for globalisation at work. Its growth story is unique in two respects: it’s exports-led and manufacture-driven; and it lies in the Doaba area of Punjab, home to a staggering 6 million non-resident Indians—a population equal to that of New Zealand’s.
A major trigger for growth is a property boom, which appears speculative. Says real estate consultant Arjit Kapooria, “On the Grand Trunk Road that flanks the city, the government-auctioned price for an acre of land three years ago was Rs 50 lakh. Today, in the smae area, it’s a staggering Rs 4 crore.
A large part of this growth is fuelled by the buying spree of NRIs.”
Land authorities estimate that NRIs have ploughed Rs 300 crore into buying property in the doaba in the last five years. Add to that the industrial growth, and the exuberance in the property market appears rational. Reliance and DLF are looking for large plots. Fourteen malls are under construction in the Jalandhar area and Radisson has set up a 5-star hotel in the heart of the city.
The driver for this growth is connectivity between Jalandhar and nearby towns. As one approaches Jalandhar, one can see work along the highways for miles around. The Ambala-Jalandhar road is being six-laned; so’s the one connecting the city with Ludhiana.
Exports are where Jalandhar really shines. With Indian exports growing 27% in 2006, these are good times for the city. It leads India in the exports of hand tools, Sports goods and leather. Says Surjit Jolly of the Sports Goods Manufacturing Association, “Sports goods are a true free-market story.
We get no sops from the governm-ent, yet we export Rs 600-crore worth of goods.
If, like Pakistan, we get non-duty imports for raw material, this industry can become a Rs 5,000-crore business within five years.”
Jalandhar is also a focal point for leather with estimated exports of Rs 300 crore last year. However, like elsewhere, globalisation and competition have also brought pain to the city. It is consolidation time, and smaller units are finding survival difficult. The high duty on machinery that the industry needs is also an impediment to growth.
Since Jalandhar is a manufacture-driven growth story, it has created enormous employment opportunities. With an estimated 3.5 lakh migrant workers from eastern UP, Bihar and Orissa, social tension is also growing. Locals can’t do without the labour and yet there is an undercurrent of resentment. I decide to visit a local liquor shop at the eastern edge of the city. It is a tough and dangerous place. Fights break out without warning over trivial issues.
I am sitting next to Hamid Rahim from Barabanki in UP. He and his friends work at a foreign Sports goods manufacturer’s outlet. The working conditions, they tell me over packs of country liquor, are as bad as before but the pay is better.
Semi-skilled labour gets about Rs 2,000 a month plus overtime. Even then there is shortage of labour. Says Rahim: “The real issue is lack of proper places to stay. If we had hygienic dormitories, we could save so much more money.” Is Jalandhar Inc listening?
On my last day in town, I meet the perfect example of the change that in engulfing this city. In Model Town, the downtown shopping arcade, I walk into a very busy shop swarming with youth. It’s a tattoo shop. I chat up Pammi Ahuja, 23, who is looking for a new kind of globalisation-induced opportunity. Having finished her airline course and English diction course, she has recently been hired by a foreign airline. She is morose though as she can’t have a tattoo (the airline forbids them). Globalisation, however, is leaving a mark on her life perhaps without her even realising it in this bustling city of Punjab notorious for female foeticide.
In Jalandhar, you realise that for India to sustain job growth, industrial production and manufacture hold the key. A recent Cap Gemini report hinted that India might yet become a manufacturing hub of the world to compete with China. For that to happen, a thousand Jalandhars will need to boom.
