In a fresh push to industrial development, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday unveiled massive investment plans to the tune of Rs. 9,620 crores, aimed mostly at developing the industrially backward areas and creating more jobs in the southern and western parts of the State.
The plans include development of a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Ramanathapuram district at a cost of Rs.6,525 crore; a 300-acre medical park to house a host of units, including those to make diagnostic equipment, near Chengalpattu at a cost of Rs.130 crore; a Ticel Bio-Park in Coimbatore at a cost of Rs. 55 crore; and an electronics manufacturing cluster on 527 acres at Krishnagiri at a cost of Rs. 920 crore.
Ms. Jayalalithaa told the Assembly that the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) would be involved in establishing the NIMZ in Ramanathapuram and Tiruvadanai taluks. A feasibility report would be sent to the Centre for approval, and work would begin “as early as possible,” she said. The TIDCO would team up with GMR Infrastructure for the electronics project, which was expected to attract Rs.7,000 crore in additional investments and generate 40,000 jobs.
The medical park would make Tamil Nadu a key medical equipment manufacturing hub, which would help to cut imports and lower treatment costs. The State would partner HLL Lifecare Limited, a Government of India enterprise, to set up the park which would have 100 units.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said the Ticel Bio-Park would come up on 10 acres owned by Anna University in Coimbatore, which boasted scientific and technological skills and marketing opportunities.
The backward Ramanathapuram district would also get a 15-MLD (million litres per day) desalination plant and a 50-MW solar power unit. The plant would be set in Kadaladi taluk at a cost of Rs.1,500 crore.
Poor infrastructure hampers growth in south Tamil Nadu
South Tamil Nadu, where infrastructure is awfully poor, continues to wait for industrial investments.
The vacant industrial parks — two IT parks in Madurai and two SEZs in Tirunelveli — testify to the region’s neglect. In this backdrop, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s announcements in the Assembly on Thursday and the proposed Madurai-Tuticorin industrial corridor have come as a ray of hope.
Welcoming the plans for the south, Rohini Sridhar, vice-chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry (Madurai chapter), said sustained monitoring of the progress and coordination with institutions like the CII would ensure that the plans came to fruition. The government’s pro-active approach would encourage neo-entrepreneurs to take up new ventures in the region.
The CII, she said, was preparing a district development plan that would be ready in two months.
The long absence of investments in the industrial parks is a matter of concern.
In the 2,600-acre Nanguneri Multi-Product Special Economic Zone, only two companies have started production in the past 13 years. The private company identified for transforming the barren land into industrial zones with better roads, streetlights, uninterrupted power, drinking water, sewerage and communication is yet to create these facilities.
“I purchased two acres at a cost of Rs. 40 lakh several years ago, but could not start my unit as there is no infrastructure. Red tape hampered clearance of licence and other permits. Hence, I had to leave the land as such,” recalls Gunasingh Chelladurai of Bell Group of companies, the first Indian industrial group to start a manufacturing unit in China 17 years ago.
Criticising the policy of concentrating all the powers for clearance in Chennai, he urged that the process be decentralised.
