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.

boom town shillong

Shilong learns to rock
Shilong
Economic change is literally sweeping through this hill town of the Khasi’s. The humble broom we use in our everyday life contributes Rs. 300 crore to the economy of Shillong every year. The brooms made here are used across India and have seen a demand spiral in synch with the real estate upswing. The brooms cost Rs. 12 a kilo two years ago and now cost upward of 30 ruppes per kilo. Says Anand Aggrawala, who trades in this commodity at the up market police bazaar in downtown Shilong“ The broom is our best-kept secret. This is only the beginning - as rural India modernize hygiene consciousness come about this business grow manifold” It’s classic bottom of the pyramid.

From brooms to tourism and hydel power to software the city is witnessing growth. The city derives its name from the legend of a deity called shy long – one that grows naturally - and is at last living up to its name.

The free market works in fascinating ways here. The helicopter ride from Guahati costs 900 ruppes - take a taxi and the tab is 1100. With air connectivity has come the higher end tourist. Says Mrs. J R Phambo, who is developing a mountaineering and wellness resort in picturesque cherapunji,“ For years Shilong sounded exotic but out of reach now it is a two hour flight and a half hour chopper hop from Delhi. This has translated into a mini tourism boom. Suddenly we are accessible!” And it is likely to get closer. Plans are afoot to lengthen the runway at Shilong to land jet and turboprop aircraft. The first landings may happen this January. The result is a hotels boom - companies including the Taj group and DLF are reportedly exploring possibilities for opening new hotels.

The real growth though may come from unlocking the hydel power potential of the state. The state has seen interest from 40 power firms so far and at least six new hydel power projects are already in various stages of commission. Says Manas Chaudhery, editor of the Shilong times and an MLA “ If execution meets intention Hydel power could a be really serious money spinner for us.“

With an English speaking work force and property prices 40 per cent less than metros it is only a matter of time before information technology arbitrages the Shilong advantage. M Larsing, the NIIT franchise and hotelier says, “Info tech firms are looking to save cost and yet need a diligent workforce that is fluent in English. We have experienced that Shilong youth - once given the technical skills love to work within their homes even if wages are less. I believe that as far as cost arbitrage goes Shilong is the future IT hotspot.”

Yet another trigger for growth is from timber and non-timber forest products. Says Sahihun lang a young women entrepreneur “ Forest products are a strength of Shillong and with the well ness business and the retail revolution unfolding we see great opportunities in supplying top grade honey, turmeric and many other items.” To this end the government has set up an e commerce portal called the Meghalaya agricultural marketing portal and he bigger retails chains have already started procurement.
Finally there is the mineral wealth such as coal and limestone on offer. However the lack of clarity in policy and the difficulty of obtaining land ownership has deterred investors in this sector and much of the mining is illegal. There is also a disputer on mining uranium fro shilong give environment concerns.

One intangible reason for Shilong’s growth is its young population. It’s late in the nigh and the trendy disco Tango is full up trouble has broken out and fists exchanged. The waiter at the Disco informs that they need more bouncers - and from out of town since tribal and clan affiliation ensure that the local ones don’t do a good job of restraining fellow tribals. So economic growth and social change with it, in the city that annually celebrated Bob Dylan birthday, is blowing in the wind.
Growth triggers
Agro and forest products feeding retail chain
Forty proposals for power plants
Airport modernization likely to lead to tourism boom
English speaking workforce and low property and wage cost could prove a cost arbitrage for the information technology industry
Bottlenecks
Tribal society means a few powerful satraps garner most of the gains
The north east periphery yet to gain critical economic mass
Insurgency remains a issue especially in nearby agro hills

you tube and copyright

Coming soon to a you tube near you

It is ironic that a medium such as you tube, which allows everyone to display their creativity by uploading videos, could end up killing creativity in the entertainment domain. A spate of lawsuits against the medium owned by google for copyright infringement threatens the fragile equilibrium between content owners and public sharing sites.

Hollywood studios such as Viacom have sued you tube in the past. The latest to join the chorus of protest against you tube is Indian music firm T series which has accused the firm of putting the music of many hit movies on line, in some instances even before the movies are released in theaters. You tube is not alone of course in carrying copyrighted material other popular r sites include veoh, go fish and daily motion which are gaining popularity in the western world though are not as popular in India yet. T series is also having a court battle with Indian web site rediff on the same line accusing the web site of serious copyright violations.

There can be little justification if copyright is infringed in so blatant a manner in the name of technology. After all free market depends on monetary incentive for creativity. What happens with you tube and other video community sharing sites is that they pay no royalty and yet put up original content online. The technology has made the whole thing ridiculously easy since anyone from any computer can upload virtually anything. If every form of entertainment from music to movies feature on a free service Internet site it can end up killing the entire entertainment sector. To an extent this has already happened to the music industry with technologies such as rapid share and music file swapping threatening and even whipping out some firms. It also threatens the web strategy of entrainment companies who may have plans to leverage the Internet as a source of revenues for original content.

In its defense you tube has consistently maintained that it is a service provider. That it does not create or upload the offending content on its own or for profit. In the US copyright law there are provisions, which defend this right of service providers as long as the said providers remove the offending sequence on request. Intriguingly you Tube also sells software, which will allow firms to know if their software is being put online.

It remains to be seen what course the case will take in India. The court has reportedly provided interim relief to T series and asked you tube to take down all offending copyrighted content. The fact that the lawsuits have been filed not under the IT act but copyright act may queer the pitch for You Tube. T- series has argued that you tube in fact does make money form the content since it runs the lucrative pay per click ad routine of goggle on its site. In the end both the service providers such as you tube and content providing media firms like T series will have to come to grips with a formula, which allows for right of way in copyright content while leaving user generated content alone. Without better copyright management You tube’s lawyers may remain as busy - and need tube at least as much innovation as the geeks that designed this fantastic web site in the first place.