The industrial enclave of New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, better known as Noida, is wilting under industrial competitiveness or so it seems.
In the last 3 years between April 2007 and March 2010, almost 460 industrial units closed shop in Noida due to several factors. These include financial, skilled manpower and management constraints; obsolete technology; poor marketing; raw material hurdles; and high cost of production.
While, these are official figures, industry insiders claim the number of closed industrial units in Noida would be around 1,000 during the period.
The state government had placed this data on the floor of the house during the recent monsoon session of Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
At present, the total number of industrial units in Noida is estimated at 15,000, including 6,000 odd registered ones. A substantial number of these units are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“Whatever the government claims for the situation, the bane of Noida industry is the lack of proper infrastructure, including power and ready availability of raw material,” MSMEs chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) Noida chapter chairperson N K Kharbanda told Business Standard.
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He blamed the skyrocketing real-estate prices and growing commercialisation of land earmarked for industrial purpose for the reluctance of new industry opening shop in Noida.
“The realty prices in Noida have shot through the roof. Typically a 1,000 sq yard plot in Noida would cost almost Rs 5 crore today. Added to that the cost of construction, machinery and other necessary infrastructure for a unit, which makes the cost of production unviable for new industries,” he noted.
As part of the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida is well connected with the national capital and is a preferred location for the blue chip companies to set up their corporate office.
Kharbanda rued the lack of ‘common display centre’ in Noida, where the local manufacturers could showcase their products before national and international buyers.s
“We urgently need a platform for B2B (business to business) interaction in Noida before the situation turns grimmer,” he warned.
Formed on April 19, 1976, Noida lies in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of UP. It was during the Emergency, when Sanjay Gandhi took the initiative to form the city under the UP Industrial Area Development Act.
Noida is home to a large number of auto ancillary and industrial goods units, besides Information Technology (IT) companies. It also has a Film City and is the head office of the Software Technology Park established by the Centre to promote software industry.