Is Delhi a dying industrial city?

New Delhi, June 18 (UNI) Delhi is the story of a stagnant or perhaps dying industrial city, paradoxically when its infrastructure is probably one of the best and the world is running to the capital for business--private or government.

While Delhi topped the list of union territories in terms of total number of industrial enterprises and gross employment, it fared a poor third among the top three union territories in terms of growth in industries and did not find place among the top three in terms of growth of employment in these units.

These stark facts were brought out in 'Economic Census 2005', made public earlier this week, by the Central Statistical Organisation of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

While the number of units in Delhi were 7,53,795, which was a mere 1.79 per cent of the total number of industrial units in the country, the employment generated in these enterprises were of the magnitude of 40,80,033 or 4.12 per cent of the total work force in industry.

But the real story is related to the growth of these enterprises.

Among the 35 states and union territories Delhi ranked a poor 33, with growth in industries at 1.36 per cent and employment 2.21 per cent.

Dadar and Nagar Haveli topped the list in terms of growth of enterprises with a figure of 12.31 per cent followed by Daman and Diu with a growth rate of 7.85 per cent and Chandigarh 7.46 per cent.

In terms of growth of employment, on top of the list was Daman and Diu with a figure of 11.49 per cent, followed by Dadar and Nagar Haveli having a growth rate of 10.33 per cent.

The broad based belief was that industry was a generator of quality employment and often regarded as the backbone of an economy.

Yet, analysts say this was not the entire story. Delhi was growing in terms of the service sector--witnessing a hefty increase in PCOs, consultancy firms, educational institutions and secretarial services, not to mention the upcoming hotels, the conference venues and places of tourist interest.

What were the reasons for the capital faring so poorly in terms of industrial growth? Analysts attribute this to a host of factors, including the chaotic policies of re-location of industries, with little care being taken for re-settlement of labour force, and demolition of business establishments.

The sky rocketing prices of real estate acted as a deterrent for prospective investors, who rather preferred to set units in the neighbouring areas of the capital or elsewhere in the country.

The high levels of pollution, stringent regulatory systems, including environmental laws, and the fact that one was perennially in the glare of the authorities for the simple reason that it was the national capital.

It was not without reason that all the leading garment exporters had shifted to the neighbouring areas of Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida and Faridabad.

The fact of the matter was that the industry prefers to be left to itself and despite repeated promises by the authorities, businesses speak of the flourishing 'inspector raj'.

UNI IP CS BD1229