Mangalore

Mangalore.. It is my city.... it is our city.  It is the city of Angels, as someone rightly said. It is one of the most beautiful cities in India.  It is filled with people of tremendous talents. We are born here.  We love it and we want our Mangalore to be one of the best cities in India and later in the world too.

But the dream will not  become realistic just like that without any efforts and strong vision to work towards acheiving it.  If we look  at the present economic strength of Mangalore, we will be surely able to realise  and understand whether  Mangalore can be  one of the best places in India to live or not.

It is important for all of our NRI readers to know  and understand where Mangalore is leading and what we have to do to have a bright future for ourself.  This is important because many of us have invested our hard earned money in this city as businessmen and / or decided to live here after a period of time.

The capability of Managlore in the service industry, real estate,  properties, education, manufacturing, Information Technology, BPO  should be forecasted. If there is no growth, no demand, it will never be a good idea to invest  in the city.

As is where is condition:

 Below are the few points about present aspects of Mangalore.

1. Infrasturcure: In the last 10 years, there have been various efforts to upgrade the infrasturre of  city, but comparing to other  cities like Delhi and Chandigarh, we have a lot to do and work on.

So, Infrasturcture development is a core area needs to be addresed and actions to be implemented.

It is not that we do not have any facilities. The new Mangalore port is one of the major export ports in India at the moment.  The growth of the new Mangalore port has been excellent in the recent years and has created good amount of surplus.

Even though  we have Aerodrome from 1956, till now we have not been able to classify as a full-fledged International airport . We need to have cargo facility as soon as possible  for faster and reliable services of goods to and from Mangalore. Efforts  should be made to   connect to the major part of the city and the world.

Education:  As we all know, Mangalore and Dakshina Kannada Districts are the educational hub in India.  Students not only from All over the Country and also from the world over come here and build their future. We have to keep this credit and upgrade the education system every year to keep the status. Unitversities like Manipal, Nitte have really become famous for their quality education in terms of Medical and Engineering.

Banking : Mangalore is popular for the Banking sector.  Mangalore is having a strong presence in terms of Banking. The nationalsied Banks like Canara and Vijaya banks , Karanataka Bank, Sydicate Banks 

were established in  the region.

Information Technology: IT has not been that effective so far in the city, but after Bangalore, the companies are eyeing to set their operations in Mangalore.

 The information Technology has slowly getting diverted to Mangalore  may be due the fact of our strong base in  educational facilities. This is a good sign. Infosys is the first company who made its presence in the city. WIPRO also plans to set up its operations in Mangalore. Two IT parks are already  under construction - One near Ganjimatt and other one near Mangalore University.  Third one is under  construction at Thumbay by BA group.

Considering   this, Mangalore will be looking forward to become a serious alternative to Bangalore in the future for IT solutions. .

Manufacturing :  Any country to be developed or potential for the development can be estimated by understanding its manufacturing capability.  On the other hand, when we apply  this to the city or the district, our Canara district should be able to produce and create  income and the employment.

Just compare to the city Coimbatore which is now has  become Industrial Hub in south India.

International Market leaders in Valves, pumps sector are setting up the offices as well as the operational plant to cater the  fast growing Indian Market. The TN  government is supporting industrialization in the state which  has made them attractive for FDI.

Similarly,  the entrepreneurs and businessmen should come forward  in investing money in our city and make our city too  be competitive.

At the moment, our dear city is not producing so much. The industries are not  more and hence   not creating income and the employment.The MRPL and MCF are the major industries at the moment available at the large scale level.  It is good news that ONGC is planning to invest 35000 Crores in newly forming MSEZ.

 Mangalorean firms have been famous  for Beedi, Coffee, Tiles  and Cashewnut Industry.  However, the tile industry is in decline due to the popularity of concrete base buildings.

Mangalore is also famous for the production of Leaf springs for automobile sectors which are used as shock absorbers. There are currently 6 units in Baikampady industrial area  catering to replacement market of South India.

The latest development in the Mangalore special economic zone has created a new potential future in Mangalore. The SEZ was announced in the year 2005 and  since these five years  the commencement of this zone has happened in slow pace. There may be people who need to evacuated, but need to be done for the benefit of our country and our region. Otherwise, where is the growth, and again,we will end up in remaining as second tier city for long time.

Now, MSEZ officials have announced that  this year the zone will become operational. If this becomes true without any further  delay, we can strongly say there are lot of opportunities in terms if business and employment in Mangalore.

Students after education need  not travel to Gulf countries, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad or Bangalore in search of  jobs.  Instead they can work in their own city and enjoy the benefits of being in Mangalore  with the comparable salaries. Over a period of time, people from other parts of India should also think to come down to Mangalore for the job opportunities.

Real Estate:

Once we  become competent in Education ( we are already), engineering, service, manufacturing and other sectors there is no  doubt that Mangalore will be the next city to eye on. With living cost 20-30% less than that of Bangalore and other Major cities, Mangalore is the ideal place for the investment.

The real estate price will go high relatively and foreseeing this, it will be good idea if  you are planning to invest in Mangalore

Tourism, Hotel Industry:

When  your city do not create business,  the tourism, hotels, travel  also will not forsee the expotential growth as movment of businessmen and related officials will be less to the city. The   heavy mansoon from June to September

Anyway tourist places in Mangalore and in the district are quite good and this is keeping  the industry in good go.But we have to work towards making the available places for attractiing the tourist. The beaches have to be made clean and with more facilties attracting the tourism.

Before to  conclude:

We  should aim and work for more  FDI (Foreign Firect Investment) to happen in Mangalore to know the city potential to the world. Once more and more  companies and businessmen know about the city growth, more the FDI it can attract.

The government of Karnataka also should work  towards as this is  the only Major city in Karnataka  having good Air, Rail and Port sea connections.More the export, better is the  revenu .

Concerns:

Considering that present facts we have a strong opportunity which we should make use of without succumbing to the politics.

For a better Mangalore, we need to have  the following

Roads to suit the business requirement of future. The flyover plans to be speeden up and new ones to be constructed wherever necessary.In the last 6 months, there has been significant improvement in  upgrading the roads within the city. The authorities shoud now check the present status of roads in the outskirts of Mangalore and make plans to connect to the city with minimum  traffic.

Cargo  facility in Mangalore Airport to be established.  Airport connecting to Major part of India, middle east. As the business goes up and up,  the airport should invite the private airlines like Emirates,Qatar airways  for the air travel from Mangalore.

The railway stations both Kankanady and Mangalore central should be upgraded.

MSEZ and IT Partks: As mentioned before in this artcile, all the efforts should be made make these project to become realistic.

Conclusion: We can forsee at the moment a bright future for Mangalore.Various projects development plans (Mainly MSEZ) have been made and upon implementation, we can see a Mangalore which  will be shining in Karnataka and India.So it is now the  job of varous authorities of the region to ensure the implementation of the projects at the right time facilitating the business.

And one request to a common man: PLEASE keep the city clean and help Mangalore to

becme a model for other cities.