India's City Economies
Ahmedabad: From Mills to Metro
How Ahmedabad survived the collapse of its textile mills, and grew again through trade, pharma, chemicals, finance and infrastructure.
Ahmedabad was once called the “Manchester of the East” for its textile mills.
The mill era
In the mid-20th century, dozens of textile mills employed over a lakh of workers.
Collapse
In the 1980s, many mills closed due to competition from powerlooms, old machinery and financial troubles. Tens of thousands of workers lost jobs, many moving into the informal sector.
SEWA
The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), founded by Ela Bhatt in 1972 in Ahmedabad, organised informal women workers and became globally known.
New growth
- Pharmaceuticals like Zydus and Torrent.
- Chemicals and engineering.
- Trade and entrepreneurship among Gujarati business communities.
- GIFT City in nearby Gandhinagar, a financial centre.
Infrastructure
- The Sabarmati Riverfront.
- Bus rapid transit (Janmarg, 2009).
- Metro rail.
- The first heritage city in India recognised by UNESCO in 2017.
A mill worker lost his job in the 1980s and sold vegetables. His son studied pharmacy and works for a pharma company in the city's new industrial belt.
Ahmedabad restructured into pharma, chemicals and finance.
- Ahmedabad's textile mills collapsed in the 1980s.
- Many workers moved to the informal sector; SEWA organised women workers.
- Pharma, chemicals and GIFT City drove new growth.
- Infrastructure like BRT and the riverfront reshaped the city.
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