Profile
Our History
The early post independence era of Kutch district has witnessed enormous changes in the political & socio-economic landscape. Things were not that much easy for the people in those days. The influx of people who migrated from Sindh & other parts (now in Pakistan) added with low infrastructural levels of resources, poor means of transport, lack of land connectivity with other parts of state, had made the things more difficult for the people of this area. The sea route used to be the only lifeline connecting Mumbai & parts of Saurashtra with Kutch.
The loss of port of Karachi to Pakistan needed a replacement to assume its role to serve the entire hinterland of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
The port of Kandla was found to be the most suitable replacement for Karachi port. To ensure that every thing goes well for the development of Kandla port, Government of India asked Railway Board to provide rail connectivity to Kandla port with parts of hinterland states.
The development of port of Kandla & Rail connectivity set the pace for economic developments into this area.
Since, Gandhidham is the nearest town to Deendayal Port Authority, the business concentration in this area grew fast. Industries & business like Shipping, CHAs, Food grain, Seeds & Oils, transport and other ancillary industries were established and thus started the development process. The Gandhidham has a cosmopolitan population from early days since it consisted of people from all parts of the Country.
With the commissioning of Bhildi-Kandla port Meter Gauge line, food grains, one of the major trades, which used to come through sea route earlier from Mumbai into Kutch, started coming in by rail. This gave boost to the food grain, Seeds & Oil industry in Kutch with main concentration in Gandhidham area.
By this time, the business & industry in the area had begun to take shape and had gained momentum. To maintain consistent growth of business & industry, few traders made a move to establish this pioneer organization – “The Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce & Industry ” with the objective to serve the trade & society of Gandhidham-Kandla complex for its over all development. This laid the foundation for the growth of trade and society as well.
There are areas where the Chember has significant contributions and done a lot to bring about the phenomenal changes and progress to this area. Some of these need mention and place in this commemorative to acknowledge the efforts done by this Chember and its members.
