Ahmedabad emerging as a promising destination for auto sector

AHMEDABAD: The city is emerging as the most promising destination for fresh investments in the manufacturing, auto and pharmaceutical sectors in the country. The numero uno status has been brought out in a study by global real estate consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) after comparing investments in other emerging cities of the country.
Besides Ahmedabad, the report found Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Vadodara and Vishakhapatnam as the ‘next most promising business destinations offering a long term investment potential’.
“In the last two years, volume of investment by various companies in these 10 cities has increased by over seven times. Ahmedabad has attracted nearly 39% of the investments,” the report said. Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, C &W India, said, “These cities represent the possible growth trajectory India’s economy will follow in the next few years. The growth in these cities will be led by primary sectors like metallurgy and power, though services and manufacturing will play a crucial role.”
The report says that metals and metal products manufacturing companies have made the highest volume of investments of 39%, followed by power production companies at around 16% and chemical and petrochemical companies at approximately11% share. Recently, another international survey, which studied 120 cities across the world, ranked Ahmedabad 92 in the overall ratings. However, the city was ranked 19th in terms of economic strength. The survey pegged Ahmedabad’s GDP growth per annum at around 10.1% between 2010 and 2016.
“Gujarat, on the whole, has been a buzzing economy,” said well-known economist Bibek Debroy. Historically, the state governments have acquired lot of land which makes land availability easier for industries. The periphery of Ahmedabad and the stretch between Ahmedabad and Vadodara are attracting large-scale investments in the manufacturing sector due to the strategic location.”
Former IIM-A director Bakul Dholakia added, “Ahmedabad is the fastest growing city in the country currently. While commuting in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi has become a nightmare, in Ahmedabad travelling to the airport from any area takes less than an hour. Ahmedabad is on top because most companies investing in the state have a registered office in Gujarat.”
Top draw for investors too
Ahmedabad has attracted nearly 39% of the total investments announced for the 10 most emerging cities since 2010. It mainly got investments in automobile and auto components sector, followed by telecom and real estate and infrastructure. tnn