Kutch's growth powered by good infrastructure

MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION: Till about six years ago Kutch was barren land with bumpy roads.

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Kandla: Kutch in Gujarat is one of the most dry and barren parts of India. Ironically it has become India's fasting growing region.

Till about six years ago Kutch was barren land with bumpy roads. But now its boasts of a world-class road network, in sharp contrast to much of the rest of rural India.

Paresh Shah, who set up a tiles manufacturing unit in Kutch in 2003, was initially drawn to the place by the 16 per cent central excise and four per cent sales tax waiver that the government announced after the 2001 Bhuj earthquake.

Since then his company has been on a roll and this year it expects revenues of Rs 300 crore.

"We have four units across India but as a policy we have decided that for our group all future expansion will be in Gujarat," says Paresh Shah, Director, Euro Ceramics.

One reason he says is the Gujarat state government usually clears files within three-four months while in other states it takes as much as a year. The other reason is good infrastructure.

After the 2001 Bhuj earthquake much of the Kutch region of Gujarat was razed to the ground.

The state government used that opportunity to develop good infrastructure in the region.

It first put in place good roads and encouraged the private development of power plants and ports.

In fact Kutch is home to two of India's fastest growing ports - Kandla and Mundra.

And power is abundantly available at Rs 4.50 per unit. Not surprisingly, many people have rushed in to set up industries.

Since 2001, Rs 27,000 crore of investment has gone into the region and about Rs 75,000 crore more are on the way in the next four years.

And that has transformed the local economy.

The transformation of Kutch should serve other state governments as an example of how good infrastructure can put even barren land on the fast track to growth.