boom town jalandhar

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.

small time india now in big league

The cheer is strange for this frontline town. Frontline that is on of the Naxal war that rages like a red blister across much of central India. Says a wireless telecom sales manager, plucked out of a management school in Delhi and placed here, " The truth is that while business is surprisingly good with people sick of land lines, I cant venture out worried sick as I am of land mines. Ranchi has no suburbs. Twenty miles out and you are in naxal cross hairs. I can't believe how much time I spend at the bar these days - there is just nothing else to do around here." He may have a point. While cell phones have boomed and Sunil Mittal said at a recent conference that the opportunity in Ranchi was spotted late, even most cell phones don't connect.

The real estate market though has boomed, regardless. Partly because Jharkhand became a state and expectations of a growth of the sort witnessed by Deharadoon propelled investor sentiments. The real action however is in the natural resources sector. You have a queue here for investing in mining in power and coal. Says Tanmay Priadarshini of Jindal Steel "Things take time here, but make no mistake, once you realize the sort of resources the state has you will appreciate that there are few better alternatives than Jharkhand. Sure law and order can be tough but the mining sector overall has the capacity to be a transforming agent in this state. We are very bullish about Ranchi."

This being Ranchi the main road is called simply that – main road. And here stands a five star hotel in white marble, its called Capitol Hill. It houses another giant potential investor - Arcelor Mittal. Currently playing the waiting game the steel giant has eyes firmly on the state. So do about 40 other steel and coal companies of various sizes who have signed MOU's. However says a senior Indian Steel firm CEO on the condition of anonymity “ The only problem is that the after the MOUs nothing has moved. And some of the MOU’s have even lapsed since the time of reference is long over. There is also a lot of uncertainty since PSU firms corner mines so you are left groping in the dark in the middle of seemingly endless opportunity.” Transparency is alien in these parts. What you see is never what you get. This is India inc. as it used to be.
\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>The malls bandwagon so conspicuous ion other growth towns is absent in Ranch – so far. However both the pantloon group and the future group have plans lines up with the later likely to start operation here early next year. So the mall going Indian will soon have its fist cousin in Ranchi. Says local businessman Aditya prasad " Reality as a trigger for growth has been slow in coming but its now firmly here. We also ready have an top-notch Apollo hospital and a seven star hotel is planned. It may not look like much but this lace is catching up – and fast.'\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>The youth are hopeful too. Some kids on motorbikes restless like the rest of India are eating at a popular Kebab joint on main road. I join the feast to see what the youth are humming. The ambitions seem modest a couple are preparing to go to Delhi to take the IAS exam two others work for telecom franchises and all of them are unanimous in one thing – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. If ever there was a motivational guru who could motivate enter peoples and give them hope this is it. Says Sarawak \n\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n",0]
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The malls bandwagon, so conspicuous in other growth towns , is absent in Ranchi – so far. Pantaloon though has a big mall lined up. So the mall going Indian will soon have a first cousin in Ranchi. So while reality as a trigger for growth has been slow in coming its now a reality. Apollo has set up the first real multi facility hospital and a seven star hotel is also in the works.
The youth are hopeful too. Some kids on motorbikes- restless like the rest of India are eating at a popular Kebab joint on the main road. I join the feast to see what the youth are humming. It’s a modest hum - almost a whisper. A couple of them are preparing to go to Delhi to take the IAS exam, two others work for telecom franchises and all of them are unanimous in one thing – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. If ever there was a motivational guru who could motivate an entire people he is it. Says Sarawak gonda, 22 “ look we have to aim at the top and if we have it in us it is possible. If he can be a one of just eleven in a billion we are only looking to join the workforce.” Way to go mate! The odds are indeed in his favor.