Article - 118 Week 01 Mumbai to Surat

Article - 118   Week 01     

Mumbai to Surat

"NMMC stare at tax losses as city industries eye 'dvpt friendly' Gujarat" - Headline, Times Of India On 6th Jan 2013

Long time ago, Surat was the entrepôt and trading capital of India. The Moguls controlled and ruled the place. Their rule guaranteed safety and security to traders and artisans. They allowed the Portuguese , the British and others to carry on competing and trading. In addition to huge amounts of imports of horses, bullion and export of fine calicoes, the place was used for ship repair and provisioning for both the west bound and the east bound ships to Indonesia and China. On the other hand, Bombay, consisting of many isles, had a small trading post of the Portuguese, prone to the excesses of Maratha attacks and Mogul high-handedness. Even after the British took control of Bombay, trading activities were limited, until the East India Company decided to move its administrative centre & main factory from Surat to Bombay. The Moguls slowly perished. The Marathas were subdued. East India Company had its stable monopoly over the islands. The place grew secure and safe for trading. Traders flocked into the place with all their money. Weavers, artisans, and workers made a beeline for a safe and prosperous, productive and rewarding life. And the rest is history. The trend  continues to be felt, albeit a much slower pace or perhaps a reversal of the trend!

The surest way to to bring a city down on its knees is by blocking its sea ports and airports. In a war, the Generals do that to their enemy as an offensive strategy. In our case, our city is being slowly, insidiously and undramatically choked in its ports and airport. The process is so slow that we hardly notice it and we get used to the pain over time. We hardly complain. Some thing like a slow poisoning. You won't know the damage until it is so pervasive and extensive that it is too late to remedy. Mumbai is no more a secure and safe place for business, trading and shipping. It is particularly punishing its business people, and the common workers, artisans, and the middle class. The old port is practically abandoned by the users due to the excesses of corruption, archaic rules, rent seeking monopoly interests, and hostile unions. The new Terminals of Nhava Sheva built as a substitute to Mumbai Port, and to handle larger volumes of containers & conventional cargo have floundered. Callous administration, shoddy regulations, conflicting and ambiguous contracts under BOT deals, wide spread corruption, sky rocketing land prices, unfair government deals in acquiring land for port building, excessive lock outs by belligerent Union workers, and hopelessness are the order of the day. Safety, security, and stability is menacingly questionable. Excessive taxes on businesses, goods, services, and workers has rendered the place gloomy. Land grabbing by politicians & their fronts has driven lopsided developments and kept basic infrastructure fragile and stagnant, while keeping the home prices sky high as a result of restricting basic infrastructures to small pockets. The city is anaemic  under a dying sea port and a choking airport. Capital and skill are the hapless victims. They are seeking an alternative to run to. And Surat (Gujarat) appears to be that alternative. With a pro-business climate the place is inviting investment and skill. Gujarat ports are simply world class in productivity and capacity. Connectivity by rail to Delhi and other ICDs goes uninterrupted despite the hegemony of government controlled CONCOR.  No strikes or lockouts. Roads and infrastructures are being built rapidly.  As of now, Surat appears to be sprinting back to regain its past glory at the expense of a consumptive Mumbai.

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Brgds

Capt Rath