The city may have been robbed of its historic smoking chimneys and requisite infrastructure, threatening the expansion of existing industries, but Kanpur still remains a commercial hub for traders from neighbouring states.
The city’s congested and dingy lanes of Collectorganj, Generalganj, Meston Road and Parade continue to be the healthy breeding grounds for the traditional ‘Dalals’ or the intermediaries who survive on the commissions procured from brokering profitable business deals.
Kanpur is one of the biggest bulk traders of daily products like textile, spices, food grains, chemicals, soaps, pan masala, hosiery, fruits, vegetables and engineering goods.
According to Uttar Pradesh Motor Transport Association (UPMTA) President Shyam Kumar Gupta, more than 8,000 tonnes of various types of cargo is generated due to the bulk trade from the city everyday.
The city still holds its prominent position in supplying the daily commodities to most parts of Eastern UP, parts of Madhya Pradesh (MP), Bihar, Bengal and other neighbouring districts.
“We transport the goods mostly to eastern and southern part of country, while the raw materials are generally procured by surface transport from Gujarat and Rajasthan,” said Gupta.
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Kanpur emerges as an important destination for the traders dealing in wholesale supply of spices, dry fruits, automobile and engineering parts, textiles, mobile equipment, food grains, vegetables and fruits. According to estimates, goods worth more than 250 crores are traded everyday from the city’s bulk markets.
The Kanpur Kapda Committee (KKC) Secretary Parmesh Kumar Mishra said that the traders procure woollen clothes from Punjab, bedsheets from Panipat and towels from Sholapur at wholesale prices and sell it to the smaller dealers from places as distant as Bihar and Bengal.
Pramod Jaiswal, secretary of Dal Millers Association (DMA) told Business Standard that Kanpur supplies around 2000 kg of pulses to Bihar, Bengal and MP everyday.
The ‘Dalals’ or brokers of wholesale cloth trading are feeling the heat of organised retail and company outlets in smaller districts. “The number of traders from areas like Banda, Chitrakoot etc approaching us for striking a deal, has seen a constant drop for quite some time now,” said Dinaprakash Dixit of Lalaram and Sons.
The Naughara Kapda Committee (NKC) President Shesh Narayan Trivedi said, “Now, the companies are directly reaching the customer and smaller dealers, so the need for intermediaries is declining”.
The city also boasts of some of the well-known brands like Ghari detergent, Red tape leather, Jet Knit hosiery, Saraswati engineering, Rupani slippers, Rotomac pens, Ashok and Goldie spices.
The industrialists however, seem apprehensive about further expanding their business in the city.
“Most of the existing brands are gradually expanding or shifting their base to National Capital Region (NCR) or neighbouring state of Uttaranchal, attracted by better power supply, tax rebates and infrastructure,” said Sunil Vaishya, president of Kanpur chapter of Indian Industries Association (IIA).