Author: IANS
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 15, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/289914/Forbes-dubs-Gujarat-most-business-friendly-Indian-state.html
Three Indian cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore
and Chennai - have been listed among the world's fastest-growing cities by
Forbes magazine. It also called Gujarat the "most market-oriented and
business-friendly" among Indian states.
"The urban powerhouses of the next decade
aren't behemoths like New York or Mumbai, but smaller cities like Chongqing,
China; Santiago, Chile; and Austin, Texas," it says shifting its focus
from established global centres like New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong or
Tokyo.
While "China's bold urban diversification
strategy hinges both on forging new transportation links and nurturing businesses
in interior cities," Forbes says "India, although not by plan, also
is experiencing a boom in once relatively obscure cities."
"Its rising urban centers include Bangalore
(home of Infosys and Wipro), Ahmedabad (whose per-capita incomes are twice
that of the rest of India) and Chennai (which has created 100,000 jobs this
year). Many of India's key industries - auto manufacturing, software and entertainment
- are establishing themselves in these cities."
"The growth of India and China also creates
opportunity for other emerging players, particularly in Southeast Asia by
creating markets for goods and services as well as investment capital."
Forbes describes Ahmedabad as "the largest
metropolitan region in Gujarat, perhaps the most market-oriented and business-friendly
of Indian states."
Noting that Gujarat's policies helped lure
away the new Tata Nano plant from West Bengal to Sanand, one of Gurajat's
exurbs, it cites one Indian academic, Sedha Menon, as comparing the state
- which has developed infrastructure more quickly than its domestic rivals
- with Singapore and parts of Malaysia.
Many big players in tech and services - Goldman
Sachs, Cisco, HP as well as India-based giants like Tata - have located operations
in Bangalore, notes Forbes.
"But the city also boasts home-grown
tech giants Infosys and Wipro, which each have over 60,000 employees worldwide."
But with Bangalore's population projected
to reach 9.5 million by 2025, "maintaining Bangalore's advantage over
smaller, less congested cities could prove a challenge," it says.
Chennai, projected to reach a population of
10 million by 2025, "has so far this year created over 100,000 jobs -
more than any other Indian city outside of the much larger Delhi and Mumbai,"
Forbes says.
"Chennai's metropolitan area is taking
full advantage of India's soaring industrial sector, particularly the booming
automobile sector. Electronics, led by Dell, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens,
Sony and Foxconn, are also booming. Chennai is home to India's second-largest
entertainment industry, behind Mumbai."
