A cherished dream of the local industry to have a trade centre in the city could soon become a reality. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is to be floated soon for establishing the trade centre.
A site has been identified at Panchapur, in the outskirts of the city, off the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway. The trade centre would be established under public-private partnership mode and the project will be executed through the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation in association the Tiruchi District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (TIDITSSIA).
“We have identified 9.42 acres of government poromboke land at Panchapur, which is just about five km from the Central Bus Stand and seven km from the airport, for the trade centre. The SPV will be floated soon,” N. Kanagasabapathy, president, TIDITSSIA, told The Hindu .
The State government, in its 2017-18 budget, had announced that 50% grant, subject to a maximum of ₹5 crore, would be extended to MSME associations for establishing trade facilitation centres in Tiruchi, Madurai and Salem.
The trade centre in Tiruchi will entail an investment of ₹11 crore with the land cost being put at ₹1.63 crore, besides the building cost of ₹4.06 crore and rest would be spent on related development and infrastructure works.
As per a Government order, the land cost would have to be borne by the SPV, which would also bear the operation and maintenance cost of the centre.
The SIDCO will facilitate the project implementation through a single window committee.
The state-of-the-art trade centres would house exhibition and convention halls with communication facilities and office space to be rented out to members of the MSME associations or individual units for displaying their products and hold trade-related discussions.
Establishment of a trade centre on the lines of those in Chennai and Coimbatore has been a long pending demand of the industry. Industry representatives have been complaining over the absence of a common infrastructure to showcase the potential and market the products of the city and the region. “The trade centre will be a boon to the industry, especially the MSMEs.
We can host exhibitions and other marketing events at the centre,”said Mr. Kanagasabapathy pointing out that the trade centres in Chennai and Coimbatore are heavily booked for months in advance.
He indicated that the work on establishment of the trade centre could begin by March after the land transfer and other processes.
