Kolhapur: Gunning for a place in the sun

PUNE: Kolhapur evokes images of spicy curries, wrestlers (for long, India’s sole Olympics medalist was a wrestler from Kolhapur), sugar co-operatives, farmers with the famous ‘pheta’ (headgear) and handlebar moustaches and, of course, the eponymous chappal.

Then again Kolhapur has been home to artists of yesteryears like the late Deenanath Mangeshkar (more famously known now as the father of the Mangeshkar clan), Master Vinayak and legendary vocalist, Abdul Karim Khan.

Little known, however, is Kolhapur’s ‘engineering background.’ It is an engineering hub that produces nearly 35,000 tonnes of castings per month. And oil engines from Kolhapur have long been a byword for quality across the country.

For a region that has 100 export oriented textile units (EoUs), 300 foundry units (exporting products worth around Rs 500 crore) and produces half of the country’s total jaggery output (of which about Rs 100-crore is exported), Kolhapur is a well kept secret that the local industry is trying to change. The city, today, expects its foundries and textile units to help it get its right place in the sun.

For the past one year or so, the city has played host to global manufacturers looking for a lower cost of production, says Kiran Patil, joint managing director, Ghatge Patil Industries (GPI). GPI is one of the leading foundry units in kolhapur that has diversified its product portfolio adding machining and non-automotive businesses.

“Of late, we have begun to receive large export orders directly from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), not through their Indian operations,” said Mr Patil. “For the past one year, we have had people walking in from all over the world, looking for a lower cost of production centre,” he added.

Among textile players, apart from domestic major Raymonds, the city is also home to local success stories including Tessitura Monti India Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Italian firm, Gruppo Tessile Monti spa. Another success story is Indo Count Industries. Both, Tessitura Monti and Indo Count have expanded not just capacities but also their range of activities.

Indo Count, on the other hand, first set up its spinning operations in Kolhapur in 1991. Over these years, the company expanded its capacities and is now a fully integrated unit, targeting the US and European home textiles segment.

Local textile units are eyeing the process house facilities of Indo Count. “There are 1 lakh power looms and about 10,000 shuttleless loom in Ichalkaranji, producing 50 lakh metres of fabric.

This is valued at Rs 50 per metre. If we could process the material, we could get higher realisations. But the investment required for a process house is very high. Since Indo Count has set one up here, we would like to use it on a job work basis,” said a leading player from the region.

Kolhapur could well become the next major outsourcing centre, provided it is able to do away with the infrastructure niggles. Kolhapur’s major woes are shortage of electricity — with a daily shortfall of about 500mw —, lack of good schools and a well-developed airport.

The region needs a 800-1000mw power plant. The engineering industry is currently working on a single shifts, while the textile EoUs work three shifts on captive power plants. It has an airport, but its runway needs to be lengthened, to take larger aircraft.

Realising the potential of temple tourism, efforts are on to put Kolhapur on the Mumbai-Tirupati religious tourism map. The magnificent temples of Kolhapur were built during the glorious period of the Satavahana kings and the Shilaharas.

Along with being an engineering and manufacturing hub, Kolhapur is also aspiring to join the ranks of cities that are home to the high profile IT sector.

(This is part of an occassional series where we take a closer look at the smaller cities and towns of India that are home to many small and medium enterprises)