A global presence in and around Pune is not new. What is new are the newer entrants and their focus as more and more companies around the world realise the strengths of this city and region.
Take the Japanese, among one of the later entrants here. The latest offering from a Japanese hi-tech company is the setting up of a tech centre at Chakan for the automobile industry. Just look at the old industrial belt, which used to begin after we crossed the Mula (river) at Bopodi. Setting the tone is the area that was locally designated Sveanagar, where the first of the multinationals from Sweden set up their Indian presence. That was well over fifty years ago.
The Europeans, comprising first the Swedes and then the German light engineering firms were the early comers. The second wave saw the coming of the automobile companies, starting with the Germans. The Italians came next and then, by the 1990s, it was the turn of the East Asian companies, the South Koreans mainly. The Chinese have set up manufacturing units in the region which naturally expanded way beyond the first stop of the Pimpri-Chinchwad belt.
The Japanese have been among the last of the East Asian companies to come to Pune. But being later entrants has meant that they are also bringing with them the newer technologies, newer areas of development to tap into the obvious cost competitiveness of the country to which is added Pune’s distinct advantage. That advantage comes in the form of a heritage of having over 125 year old history and experience in the manufacturing field. Remember, industry began in the Talegaon belt in the late 1890s when the Paisa Chit Fund began its glass works there and the Raja Bahadur Textile Mills was set up in Pune.
Tapping into the historical educational and industrial strengths of Pune is thus not new. What is interesting is that the city and its extended manufacturing belt have been advertising themselves globally without any of the high budget high decibel noise made by other regions. Pune’s advertising has been in the form of saying, `here we are; this is what we do’ and the rest is up to anyone who wants to take advantage of that.
The expansion from light engineering manufacture to the software sector, largely but not restricted to software services, happened in a similar way. Talk to the pioneers of Pune’s software industry and you hear stories of commuting to Mumbai to electronically dispatch their work, all because there was no infrastructure here in the form of an earth station (yes, back in the day, it required an earth station! Technology soon helped overcome such drawbacks). Hard done by, neglected and overlooked by the powers-that-be, Pune yet made its mark, moving up the value chain, to innovation and if not branded (software) products then at least to middleware.
So when a tech centre dedicated to emissions and engine testing for the automotive sector comes up in the Chakan industrial belt, where some of the big automotive manufacturers are located, and its business model in Japan has a contract offering too, that can only be good news for all of us. Because manufacturing remains critical for so many reasons, not least for job creation.
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- Why are Global Investors staying away ? - February 9, 2017
