Business and Economy in Gandhidham

Although Gandhidham is a relatively new town it is highly developed in business and economy. Geographically, the town is located in a semi arid area with low rainfall and so agriculture was never its strong point. Contrarily, people here have always depended on trade and industry to earn their living.

Trade and Commerce in Gandhidham

Trade and commerce is highly developed in Gandhidham. Apart from individual shops, the town has many shopping malls and arcades spread all over. Among them we can mention Aditya Mall, Reliance Mall, Om Crossway Shopping Mall, Sun Plaza, Manlakshmi Shopping Plaza, Ma Ashapurna Shopping Complex, Madhuvan Complex, Shaktinagar Shopping Center etc. They together contribute significantly to the economy of the city.

Agriculture around Gandhidham

The area around the town grow few crops like bajra (millet), maize, jowar, sesame, cotton, wheat, ground nut, cashew nut, matki (mothbean), green gram etc. The bajra grown here is short duration early maturing variety. Apart from providing employment to the farming community, this sector also provides income opportunity to a large section of traders. In fact, the town has quite a few trading houses, which deal solely with food grains. Among them we can name Anita Industries, Jay Agro Industries, Rudra Agro International, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd etc.

Development of Food industries in Gandhidham

Proximity to Kandla Port is cited as one of the main reasons for fast economic development of the city. However, what led to the development of food industry in Gandhidham is the commissioning of Bhildi-Kandla Port Meter Gauge line. Before that, the trading in food grain took place via sea route from Mumbai. The process was not only time consuming, but also quite expensive. Commissioning of the railway line solved this problem to a large extent. Consequently we find rapid development not only in trading in food materials, but also in food industry sector.

Among the agro based industries in Gandhidham Ruchi Soya Industries is a well name. The company manufactures castor oil derivatives, refined castor oil fsg, refined castor oil bp grade, refined castor oil pale press, refined castor oil extra pale, hydrogenate etc in their Gandhidham plant. Rudra Agro International is another pan India company having its plant at Gandhidham. It mainly manufactures in guar gum products, cassia gum products, sesbania gum products, fenugreek seed products etc.

In addition, there are companies like Anita Industries, which deals in cashew nut, Jay Agro Industries, which deals in mushrooms and mushroom seeds, Upadhya Agro Industries, which deals in Food Salt etc.

Salt Industries in Gandhidham

Salt is another sector where Gandhidham has progressed at a tremendous speed. There can be quite a few reasons for that. Firstly, the demand for salt is forever rising. It is not only an essential food item, but is also used in various industries like soda ash, Caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, washing powder, dyes, etc as raw materials. Secondly, Kutch, with its long coastline, scanty rainfall, fairly high temperature and wind velocity, has become the largest producer of salt in country. Therefore, it is natural that the district will have many refineries and iodized plants. Gandhidham, with its proximity to Kandla Port, has a large percentage of them.

Following are few of the salt refineries located in and around Gandhidham:

• Allwyn Brine Chem Ltd.
• Ankur Chemfood Products (Guj) Ltd.
• Anupam Refined Aalt derivatives (P) Ltd
• Chirai Salt India Pvt. Ltd.
• Cookvel Foods Ltd.
• Indo Brine Inds. Ltd.
• International Best Food Ltd.
• Koteshwar Chemfood Inds. (P) Ltd. -Unit-I
• Koteshwar Chemfoodlnds (P) Ltd. -Unit-II
• Pankaj Salt Refinery
• Satyam Rasayan Pvt Ltd
• Terapanth Food Ltd.
• WellBrine Chemical
• Western India Sea Brine Pvt. Ltd.

To know more about the salt industry in Gandhidham, you may contact the Kutch Small Scale Salt MFG Association located at the following address:

Kutch Small Scale Salt MFG Association l
Office No. 104/105 A,
Plot No. 38, Sector No 9,
City: Gandhidham,
Pin Code: 370201

Timber Industry in Gandhidham

Another sector, which is growing at a fast pace is timber. Gandhidham has around 300 saw mills located in its vicinity. Since the district of Kutch is devoid of forests the timber is mainly imported from countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, Africa etc through Kanda Port. To know more about timer industry in Gandhidham you may contact Kandla Timber Association at the following address:

Timber Bhawan
Plot No: 47, Sector: 8
City: Gandhidham
Pin Code: 370201
Phone No: 02834-230676, 232613
Mobile No: 098984-39938

Gandhidham Industrial Area

However, salt and timber are not the only sector where we see tremendous growth in Gandhidham. In fact, the city also has a number of engineering workshops. Fabrication industry is also highly developed here and so is the chemical industry. Many of these are located in Gandhidham GIDC area. It has been set up by Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, a wing of Gujarat State Government. It is spread over 10.61.47 hectors of land, out of which 6.48.79 hectors have so far been developed and the rest has been left open. The estate has 84 plots, out of which only one plot is vacant.

Large Scale Industries in Gandhidham

In addition, the area in and around Gandhidham has many large scale industries. Following of the big industries are located inside the town:

• M/s Archean Chemical Industries
• M/s Ankur Chem Food Products
• M/s Gallant Metal Ltd.
• M/s P.S. L. Ltd.
• M/s Friends Group of Companies
• M/s Nilkanth Group of Industries
• M/s Sparta Cements
  
  

Shipping in Gandhidham

In addition to the above mentioned sectors, shipping plays a vital role in the economy of Gandhidham. The town has many shipping companies, which not only acts as a broker, some also have expertise for ship building and own shipyards. You may refer to our page on Shipping Companies in Gandhidham for a list of them.

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Industries in Gandhidham