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ECONOMIC TRENDS
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INDUSTRIALISATION
Wardha district is an underdeveloped area as regards industrialisation. Industries provide employment to only 9.1 per cent. of the total working population. Of the population engaged in industrial activity, only a small proportion seems to be engaged in the modern industrial units other than textile mills. Out of the 36 factories registered under the Factories Act about fifty per cent employ 50 workers per day on an average. About 78.5 per cent of the factory workers are found to be employed in the three textile mills and three oil mills.
The cotton textile industry, the principal industry in the district, is the oldest organised industry which found its beginning with the opening of the spinning mill at Hinganghat in 1881. This was followed by the establishment of spinning and weaving mills at Pulgaon and Hinganghat. In 1904 the district had two spinning and weaving mills, one spinning mill, 16 cotton presses and 39 ginning factories. The bulk of the ginning and pressing factories were established between 1890 and 1904.
In the subsequent period a number of small industrial units were established. But the employment potential and capital base of most of these units was by no means large. Table No. 1 gives the statistics of the registered factories in the district in 1963 and 1964. [Source.—Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra.]
TABLE No. 1.
EMPLOYMENT IN FACTORIES IN WARDHA DISTRICT.
|
Name of the Industry |
Year |
No. of working factories |
No. of working factories submitting returns |
No. of Mandays worked during the year |
Average daily No. of workers employed |
Working factories not submitting -returns |
Number |
Estimated average
daily workers employed | |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Cotton Ginning and Baling. |
1963 |
17 |
12 |
1,45,177 |
1,023 |
5 |
333 |
|
1964 |
17 |
15 |
1,90,327 |
1,301 |
2 |
140 |
Spinning, Weaving and Finishing of Cotton Textiles. |
1963 |
3 |
3 |
16,63,544 |
5,366 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
3 |
3 |
18,06,995 |
5,854 |
-- |
-- |
Rice and Dal Mills |
1963 |
4 |
3 |
15,791 |
68 |
1 |
4 |
|
1964 |
5 |
5 |
11,365 |
66 |
-- |
-- |
Manufacture of Edible Oils (other than hydrogenated oil). |
1963 |
4 |
4 |
70,021 |
265 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
4 |
4 |
50,444 |
235 |
-- |
-- |
Tobacco Manufacture |
1963 |
2 |
1 |
14,945 |
49 |
1 |
50 |
|
1964 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Saw Mills |
1963 |
3 |
3 |
7,927 |
26 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
3 |
-- |
5,441 |
18 |
-- |
-- |
Leather and Leather Products including Footwear. |
1963 |
1 |
1 |
7,500 |
25 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
1 |
1 |
8,019 |
27 |
-- |
-- |
Machinery (other than electrical machinery). |
1963 |
1 |
1 |
11,396 |
37 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
1 |
1 |
7,575 |
25 |
-- |
-- |
All other Industries not elsewhere classified;. |
1963 |
2 |
2 |
12,114 |
42 |
-- |
-- |
|
1964 |
2 |
2 |
14,431 |
49 |
-- |
-- |
Total |
1963 |
37 |
30 |
19,48,415 |
6,901 |
7 |
387 |
1964 |
36 |
34 |
20,94,597 |
7,575 |
2 |
140 |
Wardha district does not possess minerals or forest resources which could help industrial growth. The existing industrial raw materials in the district consist of cotton and a few oil seeds. This is the principal reason for the industrial backwardness and the prevalence of processing industries. The principal manufacturing industry, viz., cotton textile, is located at Hinganghat and Pulgaon because of the availability of raw cotton. The future expansion of this industry is quite feasible if the necessary entrepreneurship and capital investment emerges. However, as things stand, the existing textile mills at Hinganghat are facing acute financial difficulties. They were closed for some time due to unsound financial position. The State Government, however, rescued the unemployed workers by starting the mills under State management. Naturally the future development of industries in Wardha is limited to the growth of small-scale agro-industries and a few demand based industries. The category of agro-industries may comprise manufacture of surgical cotton, sanitary towels, extraction of cotton seed oil, solvent extraction from oil-cake, dairy products, etc. The demand based industries may comprise power loom industry, soap manufacturing and the manufacture of agricultural implements, fertilisers, spare parts, engineering goods, electrical appliances, etc.
In view of the concentration of banana plantation at Selu, the Small Industries Service Institute, Bombay, in its Small Scale Industrial Area Survey Report recommended the establishment of a plant for dehydration of bananas at Wardha. Such a plant, however, would require a sizable area under banana cultivation, and a considerable increase in banana production.
The above mentioned Report also recommended a factory each for the manufacture of surgical cotton and agricultural implements. The essential raw material for surgical cotton is available in ample quantity. This will be a raw material oriented industry with less capital requirements and simple machinery. The recommendation therefore, deserves serious consideration. The manufacture of agricultural implements implies the establishment of a demand oriented industry, and hence will find a ready market for the products.
The Draft Report on the Intensive Development of Small Industries, Wardha Project suggested the establishment of a chrome tanning factory, a bone mill and a factory manufacturing skim milk powder and infant foods. The essential raw materials and equipment for a chrome tannery and a bone mill can be made available in the district, and small scale units can be successfully organised. However, the manufacture of skim milk and baby food requires sophisticated machinery, advanced techniques, intelligent entrepreneurship and heavy capital outlay. It may be mentioned that the production of milk, which is concentrated in the vicinity of Arvi, is not in surplus quantity after meeting the usual consumption needs in the district and surrounding area. [It is noteworthy that huge quantity of milk is transported from Dhulia to Nagpur daily.] The problem will have to be considered on this background.
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