Industrial development of Bombay and Calcutta

There were distinct differences between the nature of growth of Bombay and Calcutta as
centers of major modern industrial cities in India during nineteenth century.
Timing of arrival of British: British first came to Calcutta so the effect of Imperialism
was seen very early there as compared to Bombay and other places in the country.
Existing local business community: Marwaris were the major business community in
Calcutta. EIC established its monopoly by force so Marwaris were forced to abandon
their business or just become EIC agents. These things were not seen in Bombay where
the British reached around 40 yrs later.
Industrial Products: At this time, Calcutta became the center of tea & jute-production
whereas Bombay became center of cotton-production. Bengal was the only juteproducing area and Cotton was found in the Bombay region Maharashtra, Nagpur, etc.
Ownership: In Calcutta, British-owned industries came up. Bombay most of the
industries were started and owned by Indians themselves. So due to imperial domination
the traders in Calcutta did not flourish whereas the traders in Bombay flourished since
they had their own industries.
Labour demography: In Calcutta region, all bonded-labour was brought from MP, Bihar
and Orissa. In Bombay the labor was from the region itself. They worked during he day
and went back to their homes in the evening.
Special problems for Calcutta: Due to linguistic differences in Calcutta, this labor could
not mix and contribute to society. Effect of this was that the responsibility of labor in
Calcutta was that of the owners. This also proved to an extra expenditure in Cal, crucial
to the industrys survival later. It was not so in Bombay.
Exim structure: Being short staple, Bombay cotton generated indigenous demand and
supply whereas as the industry in Calcutta was predominantly meant for export purposes.