Slump-hit diamond hub in city switches to computerised embroidery, and thrives.
The Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad, once the second largest diamond polishing hub in Gujarat next only to Surat, has emerged from the global economic downturn with a new identity. It is now a major centre of the computerised embroidery business
in the state.
A recent study by a professor of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift), Gandhinagar, shows that at least 80 % of the diamond polishing units in the area, have been replaced by computerised embroidery establishments.
When the global slump hit the diamond polishing industry in the state two years back, many polishing units in Bapunagar were forced to close and thousands of workers were thrown out of work.
But the residents of the area switched to another industry and invested huge amounts of money in the embroidery business.
Bapunagar itself adapted fast and put in place an informal infrastructure set-up to ensure that the new industry was self-sufficient in every way.
The above-mentioned study was done by Panchami Mistry, professor in the department of fashion and apparel, Nift.
“When the recession hit the diamond industry, the income of many people in Bapunagar was adversely affected,” Mistry said. “But they lost no time in switching to computerized embroidery. The new industry is already flourishing and people are feeling more secure as there is steady demand for their product.”
Apart from making them financially less insecure, the response to the new industry has encouraged Bapunagar people to invest in it quiet heavily.
Mistry said that the industry was doing so well that there seems little chance of the diamond industry returning to the area in the near future.
Explaining why Bapunagar residents had managed to switch to the new industry so quickly, Mistry said that the people of Bapunagar are mainly from the Saurashtra region and had close connections with people in Surat.
“In the 1980s, when the textile mills in Ahmedabad closed, people in Bapunagar found themselves in dire straits,” his said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}