The State government has been taking all measures to redress the concerns of industries over the steep hike in the prices of cotton and yarn, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Thursday.
During a meeting with heads of various industry associations here, he said: “Due to the unprecedented price hike of raw materials, many industries [in western districts] are unable to continue their operations. Having realised the seriousness of this, I have already written letters to the Prime Minister and the Union Ministers concerned,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that a delegation of MPs led by DMK MP Kanimozhi had met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday. He too had spoken to Mr. Goyal over phone on this issue.
To promote geotextiles and coir products and to boost rope manufacturing across the State, a coir business development board would be set up in Coimbatore, Mr. Stalin said and added that ₹5 crore had been allocated as an initial grant for this project.
In Erode district, a regional innovation centre and common facility centres for the manufacturing turmeric powder and jamakkalam (carpet) would come up. A common facility centres for coir would be set up at Tiruppur and Karur districts, he said. Out of the 10 export hubs announced for the State, four would be in the western region namely Coimbatore, Pollachi, Tiruppur and Karur.
Noting that the contribution of the industries in Coimbatore was crucial in making Tamil Nadu a $1-trillion economy, Mr. Stalin said the new master plan would be prepared “to meet the expectations of the infrastructure requirements of Coimbatore city”.
The city would be developed as a new hub for emerging technologies and a special advisor would be appointed for this project, Mr. Stalin announced.
The Chief Minister urged the industry heads to strengthen, diversify and expand manufacturing. Noting the increase in demand for semiconductor chips across the globe, he appealed to the industries to utilise the situation and focus on manufacturing these chips.
Members of around 40 industry associations from Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode districts participated in the meeting. Ministers Thangam Thennarasu (Industries), T.M. Anbarasan (MSMEs and Rural Industries) and V. Senthilbalaji (Electricity), Additional Chief Secretary, Industries Department, S. Krishnan, Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan and Coimbatore District Collector G.S. Sameeran were present at the event.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Stalin assured industry heads that the concerns raised by them during the interactive session would be addressed and that these meetings would be organised regularly in the coming days.
When one of the participants said the Commercial Taxes Department asked them to furnish documents from a decade ago, the Chief Minister promised that appropriate action would be initiated.
