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The Sindhis of Ulhasnagar: from refugees to riches

Ulhasnagar -- the military camp in the pre-Independence era, which has been transformed into to a major commercial centre of Maharashtra by the Sindhis who came over during Partition.

On the eve of India's golden jubilee of Independence, which coincides with the completion of 50 years of the town's existence, people recall that the Sindhis came here from Pakistan almost penniless and succeeded through sheer hard work and business shrewdness. They have made the town a 'mini-Japan' by way of their talent, ability, and hard work during the last five decades.

Ulhasnagar, located northeast of Bombay in Thane district, is not famous for any particular industry but for various type of industries, all of which have made tremendous progress in recent years despite the lack of any special assistance from the government.

''Kum munapha, jada barkat (Less profit, more prosperity) is the basic principle of our businessmen," said Lachhu Virvani, general secretary of the Ulhasnagar Manufacturers Association.

Business leaders of Ulhasnagar have refuted allegations about Ulhasnagar as a city renowned for making duplicate products. Virvani said business leaders have challenged these allegations, which were false and made to malign the city's image.

''We provide top-quality products at lower prices by minimising the cost of production,'' he said.

"Being a minority community and lacking strong leadership in the community in Ulhasnagar, we have been neglected by the government in developmental work," a leading local manufacturer said.

Today, there are several export-oriented units in town. Many manufacturers are engaged in making spare parts for various leading companies mainly in automobiles, engineering and chemical. Besides, there are units manufacturing soaps, detergents, rubbers, textiles, plastics, confectionery, cosmetics, and food articles.

Explaining the success of the town, a small manufacturer, Pahelaj Raghani, said, "Our cost of production is very competitive vis-a-vis other producers particularly those in Bombay because we get cheap labour. Most of our own family members work hard round-the-clock towards the growth of the business; plus we concentrate on higher sales at lower prices without compromising with the quality of the product."

There are about 10,000 manufacturers of cotton and synthetics while about 2,000 medium and big industrial units are engaged in engineering and chemical products. Besides, there are a total 12,000 merchants engaged in different kinds of business activities like furniture, garments, automobile, jewellery, kirana (grains), and others.

Furniture items from Ulhasnagar go to various parts of the state. Local jewellers are famous in the entire district while garments are supplied across the country.

Century Rayon and Amar Dye are the major factories in this town, which provide employment to several youths from this region.

All the local manufacturers complained about the government's non-cooperation with them in business activities. This business city has yet to be recognised by the state government as an industrial town. Industries in Ulhasnagar does not get any facilities offered to the industries set up in the various industrial zones.

The town has no direct dialing telephone facility with Bombay, something that both businessmen and other citizens have been demanding the same for long.

Regarding the phenomenal growth of looms in the town during the last 20 years, local manufacturers said that most of the loom owners from nearby Bhiwandi, a city famous for its powerlooms, migrated to Ulhasnagar after the 1971 riots and preferred to settle down in Ulhasnagar. As a result, the city today is one of the largest manufacturers of cotton and synthetic cloth.

Chairman of 'Sindhunagar' (Ulhasnagar) Vyapari Mahamandal Bansi Mahadeo said that despite the lack of cooperation from the government machinery, the local merchants have registered remarkable growth in business over the past five decades.

"You will not find any person in the state who has not made purchases from Ulhasnagar. Our people supply furniture all over the state. There is a good demand from Solapur and Kolhapur for our produce,'' he said.

UNI