The trade and industry of western districts, represented by the Kongu Global Forum, has sought extension of the Mumbai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Coimbatore.
This was one of the representations submitted by the Forum to Vice- President Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi recently.
Extension of the industrial corridor would benefit the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the western districts of Tamil Nadu.
On infrastructure at Coimbatore International Airport, the members of the Forum pointed out that Chennai was the only Hub and Spoke station in Tamil Nadu.
The State had four international airports. Coimbatore should also be upgraded as a Hub and Spoke station. This would facilitate international passengers. Infrastructure at Coimbatore airport should be made better with wider runway, more parking bays, and higher capacity of the departure terminal.
The Central Government should insist upon the State Government to complete the land acquisition process at the earliest.
The entire western region of the State generated a substantial volume of cargo for export. These were now transported to Kochi or Bengaluru for air lifting. Bengaluru air cargo complex had set up a collection centre at Tirupur. Coimbatore airport should have adequate facilities to tap this potential.
Regarding air connectivity, the Forum members said one of the long-felt demands pending was flight connection between Coimbatore and Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Similarly, there should be early morning and night flights between Coimbatore and New Delhi. This would benefit international travellers to take the connecting flight to different overseas destinations from New Delhi.
Business travellers in and to Coimbatore faced several hardships because of lack of proper air connectivity to the region, the representatives of the Forum said.
