In tune with the theme ‘Developing central districts of Tamil Nadu' with focus on improving economy, fast-tracking infrastructure, and generating skilled manpower for 2010-11, the Confederation of Indian Industry – Tiruchi Zone, has constituted six expert panels and three task forces, besides embarking on a string of major initiatives that includes starting of new industry clusters and organising buyer-seller meets.
The task forces will be on manufacturing, MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Education and Skill Development, Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology, and Membership Panel / Membership Redressal Forum. And the three expert task forces will be on Infrastructure, Urban Development, and Empowering Rural Areas, S. Gopinath, Zone Chairman, and S. Chandrakumar, Vice-Chairman, told presspersons on Monday.
With the presence of strong industry sectors including power, home textiles, cement, engineering, defence, agriculture, education, healthcare, and services, the central districts have emerged as the hub of commercial activities, clocking an average turnover of over Rs. 40,000 crore , constituting 13 per cent of the gross state domestic product.
The CII Tiruchi Zone will work for increasing the turnover further by improving on the quality of manufacturing and services, and promoting the region as a favourable destination for new investments. CII will address the current and future infrastructure challenges and needs of central Tamil Nadu by working closely with the Government. A stronger focus will be accorded for bridging the gap between industry expectations and educational standards through incorporation of skills into the curriculum, Mr. Gopinath said.
Infra CT, a day-long conference on infrastructure will be organised during June-July.
The CII ERA (Empowering Rural Areas) initiative will begin at Pudukudi village in Thanjavur district where the focus areas will be agriculture, education and skill development, healthcare, rural business, and women empowerment. Other major initiatives constitute creation of Zonal Members' Redressal Forum, conduct of Architecture and Cultural Fest to showcase potential of tourism and allied industries, conduct of Tamil Nadu Agricon (Agriculture Conference) during February 2011, and formation of SME clusters in Tiruchi, Pudukottai and Karur. The second fabrication SME cluster and first healthcare cluster in Tiruchi and first bus body building cluster in Karur will be initiated this year for achieving global competitiveness and manufacturing excellence.
Skills conference
A skills conference during July 2010 aimed at creating relevant human resource, Cricket for Fellowship in August-September for team building, ‘liv-in-style' expo to promote brand awareness and quality consciousness among the younger generation, and buyer seller meets for creating new opportunities in the sectors of fabrication industry, home textiles and Agriculture will constitute the other initiatives of the CII Tiruchi Zone during the year, Mr. Gopinath said.
