Kanpur - Economy

Economy

Kanpur has a total GDP (PPP) of 22 billion US$ and it ranks as 9th among top 10 Industrial cities in India followed by Surat.

Kanpur is one of the biggest producers of textile and leather products and they are exported in bulk. Apart from the leather and textile industries, the fertilizer, chemicals, two wheelers, soaps, pan masala, hosiery and engineering industries are also operating in the city. The private sector has also set up large units such as factories of the JK Industries group, Lohia machines, Duncans, etc.

The only unit of the Indian Institute of Pulse Research (an institute of ICAR) and one of the three units of the National Sugar Institute is situated in Kanpur which reflects the strong agrarian nature of industries here.

Kanpur was also infamous to a certain extent for being home to largest tanneries in India and the subsequent pollution they caused thereof. These tanneries were the initial source of industrial base in Kanpur during the colonial period. However owing to poor pollution record, lack of technologies and emergence of other avenues of employment has led to a slow and gradual death to these units.

Kanpur has also begun to find favour among the outsourcing sector as a favoured location with several new startups setting up shop here owing to cheaper costs and a readily available talent pool.

Kanpur has several locational advantages, i.e., location at a vantage point on four national highways, i.e., NH 2, NH-86, NH-91 and NH 25; raw material availability for many industries, viz. leather, food processing, plastics etc., proximity to large markets, availability of skilled manpower due to various institutes located within Kanpur (viz. Indian Institute of Technology, Chandr Shekhar Azad Agricultural University, Central Pulse Research Institute, Leather Institute etc.) and existing traditional industrial base attracting skilled workers to the city.

One of the Software Technology Parks of India is also situated in Kanpur in Awadhpuri locality. Central Government has sanctioned Rs. 250 crs to restart Lal Imli Mill in Kanpur . It was closed since last many years. It will again generate employment to 2500/ 3000 persons. It is also home to famous brand Ghadi Detergent powder and cake which is manufactured in Kanpur by Rohit surfactanta P.Ltd.Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said setting up a high-tech city will boost development in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh was heading a meeting to discuss the details of a proposed high-tech industrial city in Kanpur, to be built on the public private partnership model. The industrial city, proposed on 1,132 acres of land in the Trans-Ganga area of Kanpur, will be an enclosed area, UPSIDC top brass said, which will be built along the Ganga. The project, officials said, will also be equipped with underground wiring, cabling, gas and water supply, apart from optical fibre lines, among other amenities. Apart from 28 to 35 floor multi-storeyed buildings, the proposed project, a UPSIDC presentation made to the chief minister said, will also accommodate a 300 acre park. Buildings in the proposed industrial city, the government said, would house a wide variety of industries ranging from IT and IT enabled services, business process outsourcing, financial institutions and hotels, among others. According to the government proposal, the industrial city in Kanpur will also contain an exposition mart for auto companies and the leather and handicraft industries, apart from sewage and effluent treatment plants for residential and industrial buildings, respectively. To be built along the lines of buildings in Chandigarh, residential buildings in the proposed industrial city will be back facing, while the facades will be built in glass. Senior UPSIDC officials also said proposed projects would have provisions for water recycling.

In Kanpur (MC), the banking services were availed by only 61 percent of the households (Census 2001). About 8 percent of the households did not possess basic assets such as vehicles (bicycles, scooter, moped, car, jeep, etc.), televisions and radios.