Trade & Commerce
Shaktan Thampuran the torch bearer to shed away the darkness of superstition and illiteracy invited nine Christian families to Thrissur to lay foundation for the trade and commerce of this town. As a result, Thrissur rose up as the trend setter of business in the erstwhile state of Cochin. Before Thrissur prospered as the centre of business, rice used to be imported from Singapoor and Burma. But the people of Kerala were not satisfied that rice as if a foul smell resulting from the long time taken for transportation. To remove the displeasure it was decided to import paddy from those countries instead of rice, and the paddy boiled and made rice in Thrissur, together with locally produced. And thus the Rice Bazaar of Thrissur got into prominence. In the field of areca nut business kokalai market that defined the price of Areca nut. Engineering business had very fertile land in Thrissur But owing to the shortage of raw material high living standard like in wages etc. Engineering business started to fade. Diamond works had an upper hand in the business field of Thrissur. Primarily row diamond was brought from Mettupalayam and the finished ones were distributed in the markets of South India. But later when the business got flourished in other areas, Thrissur had to slowly with draw from the field. Banking became the primary concern of the business community of Thrissur. Chitty Companies entered in to the field of banking and a number of such scheduled banks got started here. Surprisingly there was time when this little town of Thrissur had the most number of banks in India.
But R B I put forth strict regulations and many such banking firms either the got merged into or got affiliated too other superior banks. Kuri Companies remained as the source and the sustenance for the people. It is a prestige to remark that the H O of three major banks is in Thrissur.
The High Road of Thrissur remains the centre of Jewellery business. The gold companies of Thrissur distribute Jewellery to various part of the country. Even in the international jewellery Trade to Thrissur has a significant position.
The Vegetable market of Thrissur played as the regular market of vegetable products. The farmers could bring there products and they could get than sold out. The tile factory of Thrissur used to distribute various types of tiles in various parts of the country. Roofing tile, Flouring tiles and tiles for decoration of Thrissur travelled far and wide to different markets. But now the demand has been on the decrease due to the onslaught of ceramic tiles, granites and marble, and the tile units are now under the threat of closing them.
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