Kanpur, situated in central Uttar Pradesh, is a major industrial hub of the State. The city is also known as the Manchester of the East and is surrounded by two main rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna.
Kanpur is one of the oldest industrial townships of north India. It is one among the top ten industrial cities in India. The important industries that have developed in this city over the past several years include textiles, leather, electronics, chemicals, food processing, automobiles, communication, real estate, information technology, aerospace, engineering and heavy industries. Infrastructure development has also been significant over the past several years. Many shopping malls, multiplexes, real estate townships, and office complexes have come up. Other new industries that have developed here are -detergents, food processing, pan masala (tobacco), tea packaging, plastics and packaging, jewellery manufacturing and exports, leather processing and goods etc. The pan masala industry is the largest employer and also the largest tax payer to the government.
Kanpur is also one of the biggest producers of textile and leather products and they are exported in large numbers. Apart from these industries, fertilizer, chemicals, two wheelers, hosiery and engineering industries are also well developed. Major private sector companies here are the JK Industries Group, Lohia Machines, Duncans, etc. A software technology park is also located in Kanpur.
Kanpur has a number of agriculture based industries and to develop the industry further institutes like the Indian Institute of Pulse Research (an institute of ICAR) and one of the three units of the National Sugar Institute is situated in Kanpur.
The city has garnered the attention of the outsourcing sector with several firms setting up their units here and start-ups looking at the city as a favourable location. The advantages Kanpur has are cheaper overheads and easily accessible talent. The other advantages Kanpur enjoys are its location which is at the vantage point of four national highways. Easily available raw material for many industries – leather, food processing, plastics, nearness to large markets and the access to skilled manpower from the many institutes located in Kanpur - Indian Institute of Technology, Chandra Shekhar Azad Agricultural University, Central Pulse Research Institute, Leather Institute and the existing industrial base attracts qualified people to seek employment here.
The city has always been a centre of education with important universities and colleges located here. the most famous ones are IIT Kanpur, established in 1959, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) which is Kanpur's oldest technical institute. Kanpur also has the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College (GSVM Medical College) which is one of the reputed medical colleges in the country. Chatrapati Shahau Ji Maharaj University formerly Kanpur University offers courses in various subjects at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kanpur University, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttar Pradesh Textile Technology Institute, Government Leather Institute formerly known as Government Leather Working School, Institute of Productivity & Management, Government Polytechnic, DAV Degree College, Halim Muslim Degree College, BNSD College, Christ Church College are some of the well-known educational institutions in the city. There are more than 70 agricultural, degree, engineering, management and medical colleges in Kanpur. There are also reputed schools located in the city.
The city is well connected by rail, road and air to other places in the country. The city has bus services that connect it to major cities like Jaipur, New Delhi, Gwalior, Faridabad, Gurgaon, etc. The city is connected by rail to most of the important cities in India, trains from here run to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhopal, Jamshedpur, Srinagar, Jaipur, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Pune, Surat, Lucknow and Nagpur.
The airport in Kanpur has flights to New Delhi and Kolkata. A monorail has also been planned for the city.
Kanpur is rapidly developing and many employment opportunities are available here across varied industries. The cost of living here is also reasonable. The city is poised for bigger things considering its rapid development. Why not be a part of this growth by looking for a career here?
Hema Gopalakrishnan
faqs@cnkonline.com
