Madhup Mudiraj
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: If Marathwada were an organisation, its balance sheet today would show strong fixed assets but a worrying deficit in human capital (or talent) retention.
Let’s delve into the balance sheet, starting from credit.
The credits: Hard infrastructure wins
We have achieved more in the last decade than the previous five combined. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the India's first greenfield industrial smart city, AURIC in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar are not just local achievements; they are national benchmarks for smart industrial planning. Samruddhi Mahamarg has finally broken the curse of isolation, bringing Mumbai and Nagpur closer. Our auto and pharmaceutical hubs are robust, exporting to the world. We have successfully transitioned from a purely agrarian economy to a manufacturing contender. Institutions like Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agricultural (CMIA) have been instrumental in attracting both national and international companies to invest in Marathwada. This achievement is remarkable, and kudos to all the committee members for their sustained efforts.
Debit side is the one which is quite glaring, ‘the soft infrastructure gap.’ This ‘missed’ column should be our immediate focus. While we built roads for trucks, we forgot the information superhighway for data. We missed the first IT boom that transformed Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Unfortunately, our greatest export today is not cars or cotton, but talent. Every year, thousands of engineers graduate from Marathwada only to leave immediately. We have failed to build the ‘lifestyle ecosystem,’ the coworking spaces, the nightlife, the tech parks, that retains youth. Furthermore, despite being a drought-prone region, we missed the chance to become leaders in Agri-Tech, continuing to rely on rain rather than innovation. Fresno (USA), instead of being defined by recurring droughts, rebranded itself as ‘BlueTech Valley,’ inviting startups to test water-saving technologies and transforming a crisis into a global water-innovation hub. In my follow up article, I will expand on the use cases like these where Marathwada can Learn and Lead in India.
The balance: The ledger shows we are ‘Hardware Ready’ but ‘Software Poor.’ We have the land, the power, and the connectivity. What we miss is the ecosystem of innovation. We have built the shell of a modern economy; now, we must fill it with the code, the startups, and the digital vision to bring it to life.
The foundation is laid; the vertical climb must begin now.
The writer is Co-founder, CEO
DiscoverrLabs.AI, Melbourne, Australia and Engineer of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).