Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lauded Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for being very receptive to the Centre’s proposals for making India a hub of electronics manufacturing and setting up a national fibre optic backbone connecting all panchayats in the country.
Recalling his 40-minute meeting with Ms. Jayalalithaa last month, Mr. Prasad said at a news conference marking the first 100 days of his Ministry that he hoped Tamil Nadu would evolve into a centre for electronic manufacturing the way it had become a major centre for automotive components. The Minister had sought the Chief Minister’s intervention to sort out issues relating to right of way for the optical fibre network and land for manufacturing units.
Mr. Prasad said he had written to all States asking them to take a proactive role in extending the requisite environment to encourage the industry to take up manufacturing. He hoped Bangalore and Hyderabad would leverage their strengths as major centres for software development and hardware designing to become magnets for electronic manufacturing units.
Among the South Indian States, Mr. Prasad is familiar with Tamil Nadu, in particular, as he was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s in-charge there for close to four years.
