Moradabad is a city in Uttar Pradesh state of India. It was established in 1600 by Murad, the son of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan; as a result the city came to known as Moradabad. It is situated at a distance of 167 km from the national capital, New Delhi, at the bank of River Ram Ganga (a tributary to the great Ganges). Moradabad is renowned for brass work and has carved a niche for itself in the handicraft industry throughout the world. The brassware is exported to countries like USA, Britain, Canada, Germany and to the Middle East and Asia. Therefore Moradabad is also called "Brass City" or Peetal Nagri..
The brassware industry in Moradabad bloomed in early 19th century and British took the art to foreign markets. Other immigrating artisans from Benaras, Lucknow, Agra and many other places formed the current cluster of brassware industry in Moradabad.
In 1980's various other metal wares like brass; iron, aluminum etc. were also introduced to the art industry of Moradabad. New technologies like Electroplating, lacquering, powder coating etc. also found its way to the industry.
Type of business Business type- manufacturing and export Some of the artisans have their in house manufacturing units and workshops. Otherwise different tasks take place in different small manufacturing units. These units consist of furnace, moulding tools, polishing machine. It is a low technology industry and hand powered labor predominates.