BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

IMPORTS

The Old Gazetteer of Bhandara district published in the year 1908 gives a vivid description of the imports during the latter part of the nineteenth century in the district. The tempo and direction of the trade and its concern with the neighbouring districts of Maharashtra as well as outside Maharashtra from the communicational point of view is highly significant. Following is a brief account of the import trade in Bhandara district reproduced from the old Bhandara District Gazetteer.

" The principal imports are cotton yarn and piecegoods, salt, kerosene oil, sugar and metals. It is noticeable that between 1903 and 1905 the imports of European cotton manufactures increased from Rs. 3 to Rs. 8 lakhs while those of Indian manufactures declined from Rs. 11 to Rs 8½ lakhs. Indian yarn is obtained from the Nagpur and Hinganghat mills and cloth from Nagpur. Sea-salt from Thana District in Bombay is generally used. Foreign sugar has hitherto been principally consumed, but Indian sugar, called Mirzapuri, is now used on account of the prejudice against the employment of bonedust, charcoal in refining Mauritius sugar. Juar and arhar are imported from Berar. Some 10,000 maunds of chillis are obtained annually from Guntur in Madras. Betel-vine comes from Ramtek. Gondia and Tumsar are the two most important stations for trade, Gondia having about 40 per cent of the total both of exports and imports. The greater proportion of this, however, probably belongs to the Bala-ghat district. Tumsar has about 30 per cent of the export trade and 27 per cent of the imports, but here again the figures include the trade of the Katangi and Waraseoni tracts of Balaghat. The third station for exports is Darekasa, owing to the bulk of its timber exports, while in respect of imports Bhandara comes third. The statistics of the five principal stations in maunds were as follows in 1905: Exports—Gondia 9,60,000; Tumsar 8,86,000; Darekasa 2,18,000; Tirora 1,06,000; Salekasa 92,000; Imports— Gondia 2,25,000; Tumsar 1,61,000. Bhandara 96,000; Tirora 52,000. Amgaon 22,000. It is impossible to estimate what proportion of the total trade is carried to Nagpur by road [Central Provinces and Berar District Gazetteers. Bhandara District, 1908, pp. 124—125.]."

The consequential developments and radical changes which have taken place in industrial and agricultural production in the district have altered the direction and course of the trade in the district. Similarly, the developments in the means of transport and communications have also contributed to change the nature and composition of trade in the district. Naturally the present position in regard to the imports is quite different from that prevailing in the past. With the passage of time and changes in the mode of standard of living and general economic conditions the maxium that " today's luxuries are tomorrows want's " becomes true in the context of the present needs and requirements of the people. In this context the quantum and composition of imports at present show a consequential change if compared to the conditions prevailing in the past. Today the district imports different varieties of commodities which may be termed in the present context luxurious goods apart from the commodities of daily consumption.

The chief articles of import in the district are different varieties of cloth, such as, woollen, nylon, terylene, hardware, cutlery and toilet articles, salt, spices and condiments, sugar, cosmetics, stationery and utensils. Besides this, radio-sets, watches and other useful and miscellaneous articles are also imported.

Of these, textiles of various kinds are the most important. Cloth is mainly imported from the textile centres of Bombay Ahmedabad, Sholapur, Nagpur, Madras, Hyderabad, Delhi, Akola and Malegaon. Readymade clothes are brought from Bombay and Nagpur. Many of the merchants place their orders directly with mill owners whereas some of them purchase their goods from wholesale dealers. The district enjoys a favourable geographical location situated as it is on the borders of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and has easy transport facilities.

Ayurvedic and unani drugs have a large market in the district. The allopathic medicines are mostly ordered directly from the companies at Bombay, Pune and Nagpur. Many businessmen purchase the requirements from the medical representatives of the various companies who are either permanently stationed at the particular town or place in the district or come as travelling salesmen. Leather goods are mostly imported from Kanpore and Calcutta. For electrical goods and appliances the district is mainly dependent upon Bombay, Nagpur and Calcutta, whereas hardware goods come from Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and the Punjab.

Stationery articles and books are brought from Nagpur and Bombay. Paper mainly comes from Titaghar and presentation articles from Delhi and Mysore. Means of transport like scooter and motor-cycle are being increasingly used in Gondia town. These are brought from Bombay and Calcutta. Radio-sets are brought from Bombay and Nagpur. Wrist-watches and other time pieces are brought from Bombay, Hyderabad and Bang-lore. Utensils are generally brought from Nagpur, Bombay. Bhopal and Hyderabad. Tobacco is brought from Gujarat and Madras, chillis from Nagpur, spices from Orissa and Malabar and betel-nuts from Bezwada and Hyderabad. The district is not always self-sufficient in regard to all agricultural produce and hence pulses and sometimes grains are required to be imported from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

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