Harsh realities hiding behind glass facades

Infrastructure development at the Perungudi Industrial Estate remains dismal.

July 04, 2015 05:21 pm | Updated 05:21 pm IST - Chennai

Companies want government agencies to speed up infrastructure work. Roads like these may prove to be a deterrent to companies that seek to set up shop here, say PIEMA members. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Companies want government agencies to speed up infrastructure work. Roads like these may prove to be a deterrent to companies that seek to set up shop here, say PIEMA members. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Glass facades of new buildings impart a chic look to the Perungudi Industrial Estate, off the IT corridor. That is, when the estate is viewed from a distance — from the happening IT corridor. Take the the 4.5-km-long road and enter the heart of this business estate, and you will have a different reality staring at you. Stones jut out of dusty roads. Some stretches are submerged in slush.

Sewage work is left incomplete.

There is a belief that the estate has been changing ever since Perungudi came under the Corporation limits. Owners of various units say the change has been slow and the growth, sluggish.

“At least 40 units have moved out of the Estate in the last few decades. Many others are lying shut. We are not able to bring any buyer from outside as the area lacks basic infrastructure such as good roads and street lights,” says K.S. Anbuselvan, CEO of Indsat Corporation.

S. Viswanathan, president of Perungudi Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association (PIEMA), echoes this view.

He says both the eastern and western sides of Perungudi were developed during the same time – 1970s – but the industrial estate, which is on the eastern side, has hardly seen any infrastructural growth.

“Work on laying sewage lines has started. Even the Corporation has taken up road work. But everything is done on a piecemeal basis,” says Viswanathan.

“Perungudi was added to the Corporation limits a few years ago, but the Estate came under the maintenance of Corporation only last year, ” said an official of Zone 14.

Metrowater officials say they hope to lay the sewage lines by September.

Changing profile

Over the years, the profile of the estate has changed and it has attracted more companies. The government had promoted it as an electronics estate, now it has automobiles and software. A good mix of companies, big and small, will also enhance growth.

Members cite the example of a major IT company that set up office here but moved after it experienced a severe monsoon, aggravated by the lack of basic infrastructure at the estate. “We like to have big companies to come as they have the money to boost infrastructure but somehow the estate has not attracted many,” says D. Anil Kumar, secretary of PIEMA.

It has been addressing civic issues at the estate.

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