NAGPUR’S ASCENT FUELLED BY NCR II LIKE INFRA & FACILITIES!

Is Nagpur being groomed or designed to leverage more from its present positives and for a status comparable to that of a National Capital Region? “Intentionally, strategically or otherwise, but the second capital of Maharashtra certainly looks well on its way with facilities that may best suit a probable or not, the second National Capital Region status,” opines Dhananjay Deshmukh in this well researched case. Read on.
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Recently, Nagpur witnessed a huge development in healthcare. NCI or the National Cancer Institute a 470+ plus bed, state of the the art, super specialty cancer institute, spread over 25 acres, was dedicated to the public in Nagpur. Former chief minister and the present deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis witnessed his yet another dream project shape in reality.

This is momentous in presence of a long felt urgent need to have a super specialty cancer institute in the region – not only for Vidarbha and Maharashtra, but also for the people of central India – the adjoining states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. Modern healthcare infrastructure is imperative not just for saving the human lives, but also as, a major contributing wheel to the local economy. But, in reference to Nagpur, there is more. Fadnavis has been meeting delegations of foreign investors, one-per-day on an average, lately and discussing big ticket projects. Him along with the Nagpur MP and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari have recently been on a spree to launch or inaugurate a number of railway over bridges (ROBs), Flyovers besides a web of durable cement concrete roads in and around Nagpur. “Double engine development” moment for the region!

All these and more fill in as parts of a long sequence fueled by what could be termed as the Modi government’s strategic push, over and above its developmental zeal. This is about leveraging Nagpur’s strategic location as a safe location for communication, transportation and so on across the entire country of India. Nagpur was the location for the Air Mail Service of undividied India during the second world war. The same has returned to the city.

Held widely as a fast growing center for aviation, logistic & transportation, wild life tourism and medical tourism, Nagpur stays in the race to be a major agricultural, educational, recreational and sports hub in near future. Just a decade earlier, nobody could have imagined in one’s wildest dreams, the establishment of IIM, AIIMS, IIIT, or Majhi Metro in Nagpur. Moreover, the six lane (expandable to eight lane) concrete highway network linking Nagpur to Mumbai and Goa is fast on way to be
a reality. So is a second runway at Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International airport, a first in the state facility for any airport in Maharashtra.

NAGPUR’S PACE & DIRECTION

Lets recall a few from the sequence.

In December 2022, PM Modi dedicated AIIMS, Samruddhi Mahamarg, Metro Phase 1 in Nagpur. Nagpur Metro phase 2 is under implementation . There is also a new state logistics policy for Maharashtra being developed, and the government plans to build a logistics hub on 1,000 acres of land in Nagpur.

In March 2023, PM Modi announced setting up a PM MITRA Textile park in Amravati which augurs well for Maharashtra, which produces 28% of the nation’s cotton. PM MITRA Parks aims to make India a major global center for the production and export of textiles. The projected parks are anticipated to increase the textile industry’s competitiveness by assisting it in achieving economies of scale and luring foreign manufacturers to India.

The project focuses on development of a large area which is envisaged to become a fertile ground for carrying out textile sector business activities by all the players of entire textile value chain.  It is expected to generate 1 lakh direct and 2 lakh indirect jobs per PM MITRA Parks benefiting the area and its citizenry where it is located. There is also a provision for social infrastructure. This will ultimately enhance the overall income and uplift the quality of life of all textile workers associated with the PM MITRA Park.

After that, the state government of Maharashtra has initiated discussions with nearly 15 textile businesses about locating their plants there. Major corporations like Raymond are among these firms. This park would develop a full eco-system, from cotton to textile to clothing. West Vidarbha will experience significant development as a result. Not only will it help cotton farmers, but it will also give young people a ton of jobs.

A few other significant developments in the Vidarbha region include setting up prestigious Indian Institute of Management at Nagpur. In addition, several leading IT companies are expected to start operating from MIHAN in coming months. This would essentially create a magnet for the local student and youth to stay put in the region.

The Multi Modal international Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is the flagship project of Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC). Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust(JNPT) is developing a dry port less than 40 Km from MIHAN. Due to the development of MIHAN, the whole region around Nagpur is expected to witness a boost in economic activity and will also attract qualified and skilled talent form Maharashtra, rest of India as well as abroad.

Indian Railways is spending big on capital equipment and maintenance in and around the region. Like, commissioning of the WAG-12B 12000 HP locomotive maintenance depot, at Ajni in Nagpur,  that is Equipped with state-of-the-art-machineries – with a built capacity of 250 locos, is part of the “Make-in-India” initiative of Indian Railways. In order to cater to the heavy haul operation particularly in the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Alstom is manufacturing 12,000 horsepower (HP) electric locomotives at Madhepura in Bihar. After rolling out from Madhepura, the locos come to the depot for scheduled maintenance.

HIGH SPEED CORRIDORS

More than just a road of concrete, the 700 km long greenfield project, “Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg” that passes through ten districts of Maharashtra, understandably, is a manifestation of the aspirations from the region for better connectivity to the major local and global markets. The expressway stands to help improve the connectivity of adjoining 14 other districts, thus, helping in development of about 24 districts of the state including the regions of Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra. The ecosystem that would come around this highway could boost prospect for the logistics sector, which thrives on speed and space – which is favourably available in the case of Vidarbha region. Within logistics, one should consider at creating grade ‘A’ warehouses or cold storage chains. It is a matter of time that the less seen reefer vans turn into massive 40 ft reefer (refrigerated) containers one often sees in Europe.

Similar prospects would be on offer once the Nagpur Goa Express way becomes a reality. A 760-kilometre highway connecting 11 Maharashtra districts will be developed. The Goa-Nagpur highway is said to cut travel time from 21 hours to 7-8 hours. This highway is known as the Shaktipeeth Expressway. The motorway would connect areas of Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Western Maharashtra not served by the Nagpur-Mumbai route.

THE MOMENT FOR NAGPUR IS NOW !

Consider this, after investing 70 million euros (Rs 650 Cr) Manlift Group a Dubai-based aerial work platform rental company, has planned an additional investment of up to 25 million euros in India as part of a five-year expansion plan. The company sees a huge opportunity in the rapidly growing infrastructure development in India, especially after the announcement of the PM Gati Shakti National project with a budget of up to Rs 100 lakh crore in the Union Budget.

Manlift provides equipment and machinery for working at heights to all types of companies, including those in real estate, highways, metros, airports, and railways.

Most of their business comes from renting machinery and equipment. While the amount may seem moderate, but if one look at the business of the company – it demonstrates that an opportunity lies in infrastructure service space too.

Given the scope of new infrastructure work in the region, demand for infrastructure services will be high (while there are national players, but then plenty of projects are being implemented on the national level, and so the possible supply crunch), leading business people of Vidarbha region may consider entering such spaces.

Having said that, Manufacturing remains the king. Manufacturing jobs create more jobs. As per experts, every single manufacturing job creates 2-3 other jobs because wages are spent in other parts of the economy. By giving people jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors, manufacturing companies not only assist in modernising agriculture but also lessen the heavy reliance of people on agricultural revenue. Exporting manufactured items boosts business and trade while bringing in much-needed foreign currency. Prosperous nations are those that convert their raw materials into a wide range of provided items with higher value.

Sectors like technical textile, green energy (including solar, wind, green hydrogen), electrical and electronics (on the lines of NOIDA which focusses on home appliances, mobiles, consumer electronics and televisions), semiconductors, green data centres, new-age agri implants, railroad equipment’s (metro coaches, wagons, rails, ancillary) defense offer a lot of promise – and many medium and large-scale units can come up in the Vidarbha region.

Service sectors like tourism, banking, IT and allied could also flourish should they get revamped and refreshed with newer ideas, on the lines of could the service hub in Gurugram, Haryana. Once these two sectors flourish, retail “tsunami” would follow.

While majority of these are capital expenditure intensive and only large-scale businesses can venture in, but once established they would need components, support, and services which small and medium size enterprises usually provide. Thus, an ecosystem would come to life!

Acting as a facilitator, the present day government is busy developing building blocks – physical and allied infrastructures, real estate and financial institutions provide necessary capex support, it is the local entrepreneur who will have to rise to the occasion and make the most of the changing scenario. Local business community would need the change trading mindset, and get into creation of products and new services, transform into entrepreneurs who are not risk averse.

Today, Nagpur airport caters 80 flights per day (14 domestic and 2 international routes). In coming years, international routes may exceed , and smaller airports nearby like Amravati airport could start operations for regional connections. Vidarbha happens to be on a connectivity spree with the rest of India. One senses a very strong will and execution capacity among the current local leadership of Vidarbha to develop the health, physical , educational, and social infrastructure of the region – no doubt Nagpur is at the center stage right now, but given their mega-vision and mission-mode working styles; one can safely say a solid movement is taking shape that would spread to the neighboring cities of Vidarbha in the next decades.

FEATURES THAT SUIT A BIG LEAGUE METROPOLIS

As Nagpur silently achieves one towering milestone after another, that could install the once a sleepy township in a league of its own, are much better days in store for the region..?

Let me rephrase this and its not a wishful thinking. Intentionally, strategically or otherwise, but the second capital of Maharashtra certainly looks well on its way with facilities that may best suit a probable or not, the second National Capital Region status.

Located as one of the most strategically important points on the Indian map, Nagpur is known as equidistant from the four Megapolis namely Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Being the key center in Vidarbha, Nagpur metro region has the potential to become the National capital region (NCR) in terms of industrial activities. Nagpur as a geography is growing as it is well connected with a few states. Once the physical infrastructure is fully developed, IT companies begin operations with full capacity, educational institution like IIM Nagpur start producing entrepreneurs , Nagpur region can witness a sea-change in the attitude of Indian and global industrialists.

LAST BIT

As more and more industries and ancillary units are set here, as a cascading effect, the average local youth would prefer to work in the region instead of migrating to metros like Mumbai and Pune. Once that happens, the Vidarbha region could well begin its “odyssey” to the highs of prosperity that many of us could only dream about a few decades ago! Also required is the conviction and risk averse mindset to get the region on global map – and the moment is now!

So Indian and global industrial warriors – start ideating, understand market and industry (with the support of industry experts), measure risks, invest skill, time, and money, develop winning strategies, and succeed. Come to Vidarbha, Start your Business and Succeed Globally!

Dhananjay M. Deshmukh

The author is a Mumbai based independent market research and business consulting professional. Views are personal. Data and information presented is collected via online secondary research.
He can be reached on dhan1011@gmail.com