Seven districts in Tamil Nadu have less than 20 companies incorporated during the period November 2013 to July 2015.
These numbers are alarming because it means, for every one lakh population only one new firm was born in these zones which include Perambalur, Ariyalur, Sivagangai, Karaikal, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and Pudukkottai. Dharmapuri, which is in the north western part of the State, had 20 new firms during this 21 month (November 2013 to July 2015) window period.
Quite low
“This clearly indicates that entrepreneurial activities in these pockets are quite low and government should throw more light on these areas.
“ Each of these districts has its own strength. The government should identify that and help businesses,” said a Chennai-based entrepreneur.
Chennai recorded the highest with 4,070 (87 per lakh population) new companies followed by Kancheepuram and Coimbatore with 1,478 and 1,042 respectively.
Less than 50
An analysis across the State shows that these companies include both private and public limited, not necessarily start-ups. All the companies did have an initial capital that was pumped into business and none of them were shell companies.
The data which was collated from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by How India Lives, a Delhi based start-up which is into data mining also showed that five districts (Karur, Nilgiris, Theni, Dindugal and Thiruvarur) have more than 20 but less than 50 firms registered. Seven districts had more than 50 new organisations open shutters. Of this seven, Namakkal had 94 new firms, Thoothukkudi (85), Virudhunagar (77), Thanjavur (69), Cuddalore (56) and Viluppuram (55).
Tiruppur not included
Of the 32 districts in the state with a population of 7.3 crore, eight districts including Erode, Tiruchirappalli, Kanniyakumari, Salem, Vellore and Tirunelveli had more than 100 new companies listed. But again, of this, the highest number of firms was in Madurai (287).
The textile city Tiruppur was not included in this analysis, because it was not in the pin code directory (this means the companies started in Tiruppur was listed in Coimbatore pin code).
MSME role vital
An official in the MSME department defended the government and said, “These districts which have less than 20 companies do have other firms which are not recorded or registered. Many firms don’t register themselves and that could be one possibility why the data is not reflecting here,” he added. He also said that MSME can play a vital role in these zones and help more companies mushroom.
The number is not high because many firms don’t register themselves, says an official
