In a latest development in the state of Maharashtra, Mr. Vijya Darda, the Rajya Sabha member has written a letter requesting the top ministers of the state to develop Nagpur as a hub for automobile manufacturing. Chief Minister, Maharashtra, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan and the Minister of the Union Heavy Industries are the recipient of this particular letter. The letter suggests to have the industrial area adjacent to Nagpur is to be included into this process of constructing the hub for automobile manufacturing firms. Mr. Vijay Darda also mentioned in his letter to the Chief Minister Mr Prithviraj Chavan that Nagpur has a lot of scope to grow as the centre of the automobile industry of India. There are some unutilized industrial space with proper infrastructure in the SEZ (special economic zone) of Mihan and Burtibori.
If the government of Maharashtra happen to raise the other incentives with tax, it can still utilize the areas of Burtibori and Mihan by transforming them along with Nagpur to become the largest automobile manufacturing hub of India. As per Vijay Darda, because of the non-implementation of policies of the government where they were suppose to give special incentives to Vidarbha in order to promote the industrializationan important window of opportunity has been missed. This Government apathy has created consequences in form of the prolonged state of backwardness in Vidarbha area.
So far the state government of Maharashtra has paid a lot of attention on the areas near Pune, Nashik, Thane and Mumbai for developing and supporting the automobile manufacturing plants. These areas have been overcrowded because of the growing supportive industries who are directly or indirectly involved with the manufacturing process of the automobile firms. These ancillaries provide transportation, manpower, utility services to the permanent work force of the manufacturing unit in the area. A good number of shops and restaurants also open up in the vicinity of the manufacturing facility which aids the labour class in their day to day domestic requirements. According to Mr. Darda the one and only way to now balance the situation of the Vidarbha’s backward state is by providing concessions like it has been done in the other developing flourishing states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttarakhand.
Nagpur has been very famous for its production of oranges for a very long time. It could also become a prime industrial zone for the manufacturing of automobiles as well as for their spare components of the vehicles. The employment for the local residents will increase manifold and the possibility of opening up of small scale industries that could support the big manufacturing units will also generate a good number of employments for the locals. The problematic condition of Vidarbha will also get sorted out with the automobile and allied industries generating employment.