Ludhiana is one of the most important industrial and business centers
of India. It is famous for its bicycle & bicycle components industry,
hosiery goods, sewing machine and parts and machine tools industries. Commonly
known as the Manchester of India and also as the industrial capital of
small scale industry, the city has a business community, which has proved
its industrial strength all over the world. The origin of the town can
be traced to the year 1481 A.D. when the Lodhis established rule here.
There was hardly any industry worth naming in the year 1947 in Ludhiana.
The Muslims, which constituted the major working force in the industry,
migrated to West Pakistan leaving a great gap to be filled up. The refugees,
who came from West Pakistan after partition and settled at Ludhiana, were
very enterprising and hard working people. They immediately took up the
industry ventures for their livelihood and this was the start of industrial
development in the city. Since then it never looked back. Initially the
hosiery industry made its mark at the international stage followed by the
spare parts industry. The city saw a recession in the textile industry,
upheavals in law and order but still maintained its reputation of having
a strong economic base.
Entrepreneurial Dynamism
India’s woolen knitwear industry, concentrated in Ludhiana, recently
survived two crises- the collapse of its largest export market (the former
Soviet Union0 , and the opening up of the domestic market to free trade.
After a short downturn, the cluster not only recovered, but diversified
into more demanding and competitive external markets. Many factors are
responsible for this recovery. First, the best performing firms had a strong
presence I dynamic segments of the domestic and export markets. This generated
key firms adapt quickly to more demanding markets. Second, better performing
firms paid equal if not greater attention to making organizational changes
in their work practices than to the purchase of new equipment. Their, the
embedded nature of production networks, and the government’s past programs
to assist local firms have indirectly helped create a dynamic middle- tier
of locally- rooted exporters who appear to be leading the cluster’s transformation
and modernization.
Ludhiana saw enormous industrial growth in the last 8 years due to
significant improvements in the law and order situation and a conducive
atmosphere for industrial growth. Today a variety of items such as cycle
and cycle parts, sewing machines and components, automobiles parts and
accessories, hosiery and knitwear goods, industrial fasteners, machine
tools and components, rubber good, woolen garments, electronic goods etc.
are being produced in the small scale sector. The large and medium sector
is producing items such as bicycles, hosiery goods, vanaspati tyres, tubes,
electronic goods, steel castings, beer, sugar, flour rice/ rice bran oil,
cattle feed etc. 30% of the total small and medium units in Punjab are
concentrated in Ludhiana. More than half of the country’s hosiery products
are supplied from here. In order to attract the entrepreneurs to set up
industries, state government is providing benefits such as parks and industrial
estates as focal points. It is also considering, through the creation of
a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV ), The development of an Expressway
between Chandigarh and Ludhiana, expandable to Moga and Bathinda. This
expressway would be accompanied by an information backbone and mega industrial
hubs. The City is now moving towards hi- tech and IT based industries too. |
