‘Govt. should make efforts to revive auto sector in State’

PMK chief Ramadoss says delay in decision-making is hurting the industry

LOSING STEAM:In the last few years, investments worth Rs. 60,000 crore had gone to Sri City instead of Chennai, says S. Ramadoss.

The Tamil Nadu government should take efforts to revive the automobile industry in the State, as many automobile companies are now moving to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh or States like Gujarat, PMK founder S. Ramadoss has said.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Ramadoss said though Tamil Nadu was known as the Detroit of India, it was fast losing the tag due to inefficient administration, corruption, lack of long-term vision and doling out of freebies.

According to him, land availability, labour, infrastructure and government support were the key reasons that the automobile industry flourished in the State. “These four indicators are no longer favourable to us. There is absolutely no support from the State government for any new schemes,” he alleged.

While other States were giving approvals for new projects in an expeditious manner, in Tamil Nadu, no decision could be taken without Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s nod. Experts had also highlighted non-availability of land and lack of infrastructure to set up industries on the outskirts of Chennai..

Pointing out that Ford had given up its plans to set up a Rs. 4,000 crore car production facility in Chennai and had gone to Gujarat, he added that companies like Isuzu had gone to Sri City. “Hero Motorcorp, which had planned to manufacture 18 lakh two-wheelers annually at an investment of Rs. 2,400 crore in Chennai, too dropped its plans and went to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

In the last few years alone, nearly Rs. 60,000 crore worth of investments that were supposed to come to Chennai had gone to Sri City, the PMK leader claimed.

“When the new industrial policy was announced in 2014, the State government had set a target of increasing vehicle manufacturing in Tamil Nadu to 50 lakh vehicles by 2020. But no action has been taken so far,” he alleged.

Tamil Nadu, which was known for skilled labour force, now had a large number of unemployable engineering graduates. Mr. Ramadoss also alleged that many workers had become lazy due to the availability of free rice and easy access to liquor across the State. “As a result, a sizeable proportion of workers working in automobile factories in the State are from other places,” the PMK founder added. He urged the government to be proactive so that the State could once again become an auto hub.