After a long time, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday held a meeting with leading industry captains across various sectors to get feedback on the industrial climate in the State and to listen to their concerns. State Industries Minister M.C. Sampath and senior bureaucrats from the Industries Department were present at the meeting, which lasted over an hour.
Industrialists who attended the meeting described it as a welcome and positive move by the government. The meeting comes against the backdrop of concerns over the investment climate in the State.
Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company
The industry delegation comprised Venu Srinivasan, past president, CII & chairman, TVS Motor Company; Vinod Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland Ltd; R. Dinesh, deputy chairman, CII Southern Region & JMD, TVS & Sons Pvt Ltd; K.M. Mammen, chairman & managing director, MRF Ltd; C.K. Ranganathan, CMD, CavinKare Pvt Ltd; and P. Shivakumar, CEO, Apollo Hospitals among others.
“The Chief Minister highlighted various things which the government is doing in terms of road infrastructure and airport connectivity including the Metro project. The government’s plans are impressive,” Mr. Venu Srinivasan told The Hindu . He added that the industry stressed on the need for frequent interactions with the government and the need to host more road shows showcasing Tamil Nadu’s industrial potential.
Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland
Mr. Ranganathan said that accessibility of the government is a welcome sign. “The officials asked us about what the State needs to do to create more jobs. They also asked companies to express their concerns so that the government can help them. We have given them our inputs,” he said.
P. Ravichandran, chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu & president, Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd, said, “The Chief Minister wanted feedback about the recently launched Business Facilitation Act. The Business Facilitation Act has taken off very well. There are 18 proposals which have come in for approval and three have been cleared. We also highlighted the need for improving the airport infrastructure and the Chief Minister said that the government is working on it on a priority basis.”
Mr. Ravichandran added that other important issues which were raised by the industry included the need for having a good solid waste management system, securing water through recycling and focusing on development of food processing centres.
M. Ponnuswami, vice chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu & CMD, Pon Pure Chemical India Pvt Ltd, said, “We urged the government to include the MSME sector under the single window clearance. There were discussions on coastal and port development too.” The positive aspect about the meeting was everyone present was given an opportunity to express his/her views and also ask questions to the Chief Minister.
