The Pantnagar industrial area

Rudrapur (Uttarakhand), Aug. 10: This once-nondescript town on the Himalayas’ foothills is now what Singur can be in the future.

Six years ago, Rudrapur, 400km from Lucknow, was a speck in Uttarakhand’s map, as Singur was in Bengal’s before it was picked as the hub for the Tatas’ Rs 1-lakh car.

The fortunes of this town, better known then as the gateway to Kumaon, with its army of jobless youths and depressed economy took an upswing after the Tatas descended on the lush green surroundings of Pantnagar, Rudrapur’s own integrated industrial area.

In 2002, then chief minister N.D. Tiwari had begun developing Pantnagar, 2km from Rudrapur, as a 5,000-acre special zone.

Tata Motors got 975 acres of fertile land here in 2006 to manufacture its mini-truck, Ace. The plant began operations in 2007. The Tatas paid Rs 49 crore for the land, at Rs 125 a square metre (1 acre equals 4,047sqm).

“For the first few years (after the government started developing the land for industry), the scenario did not look impressive. But after 2005, when the deal with Tata Motors was sealed, there was a rush among companies to invest here. The Tatas had helped investors overcome the psychological barrier,” said Suresh Joshi, a senior journalist and resident of the place.

Officials at the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (Sidcul), which was hard-selling Pantnagar, say that with Tata Motors came a series of ancillary industries. This had an immediate impact on the market, with a long chain of supply agencies and vendors getting involved in the production process.

Industrial groups, too, realised the potential of the incentives on offer, especially the 10-year holiday from central excise, customs and sales tax duties.

Since 2005, some 40 companies have bought land in Pantnagar to set up factories with a combined investment of Rs 7,000 crore. Among the big names are Nestle, Britannia, Dabur, Honda, Bajaj, Parle, Jindal, Mahindra & Mahindra and Voltas.

Unlike Singur, where Mamata Banerjee has threatened a siege if the Bengal government does not return 400 acres that she claims were taken forcibly from farmers, the land handover was relatively hassle-free in Rudrapur.

The plains below the foothills have been extremely fertile and have traditionally produced paddy, sugarcane, wheat and soya. Sidcul acquired the 5,000 acres from G.B. Pant Agricultural University, which was then using the land to carry out experimental farming.

Although, unlike the Singur plots, the land was not privately owned, the handover triggered some resentment at first because local farmers thought they would lose out. The university, from its experiments, used to advise them what to grow and how.

But the government met the farmers and convinced them it would provide the university with land for research elsewhere.

“Initially, some local leaders led by Mohan Pathak, a student activist from Nainital, tried to stage dharnas and blocked the roads,” said Tilakraj Behar, a Congress MLA from the area.

“But Pathak got isolated because a near-consensus on the project was arrived at. Also, he did not get the kind of publicity that Mamata’s protests got in Bengal.”

The land transfer was a milestone, said Arvinder Singh, chairman and managing director of Alliance Nirmaan Limited, a real estate developer in Rudrapur.

The industrial development triggered a burst in construction with apartment blocks, malls and hotels coming up in a hurry. The town is now dotted with luxury apartments and villas surrounded by parks.

“The tax breaks drew several corporate groups to this city, raising the demand for housing and commercial complexes,” said Rohtas Goel, MD, Omaxe Construction Ltd, which is building its integrated township, Omaxe Riviera, here.

Land prices around Pantnagar have shot up fourfold to Rs 80-85 lakh an acre, and farmers willingly sold their plots last year for the 550-acre township, Metropolitan City, coming up near the special zone. The township will be home to many of the executives working in Pantnagar.

The lifestyle of the erstwhile farmers in the neighbourhood have changed, too. Cinemas that earlier stayed half-empty are now filled with the workforce from the industrial hub during the evening shows. Families of the landed rich as well as the industrial employees throng the shopping centres and the new mall.

Singur may still be a dream, Rudrapur is reality.