Kanpur is the latest industrial hub in Uttar Pradesh (UP), revealed a report prepared by the Ministry of MSME recently. According to the report, Kanpur registered an industrial growth of 15% to replace Noida from the top position, which grew at 14%.

“The many SMEs in the city from a vast range of sectors such textile, engineering, agro products, pharma and electronic goods, among others have all contributed to this development in a big way. Kanpur is frequently plagued by problems such as power issues, financing problems and technological shortcomings, but of late, its business sector is contributing a lot in the domestic and global domain,” said Pankaj Kumar Gupta, divisional chairman of the Indian Industries Association (IIA) in Meerut, which stood fourth in the MSME Ministry report.

This development comes in the wake of a recently held meeting of industrialists, government officials and the Confederation of Indian Industry, which sought to revive Kanpur’s industrial productivity.

“SMEs in Kanpur, like most other cities in UP, still require a solution for the shortage of skilled labour and adequate finance. However, government grants and subsidies have helped many SMEs in this region and that is reflecting in the report,” said Nikhil Bhatia, owner of Bhatia Exports, a small-sized unit in Kanpur which exports ladies garments.

Notably, the number of industrial units in the city has doubled from 14,222 in 1998 to 28,872 in 2010.

Sreemita Bhattacharya