The Hindu Business Line : CII initiative to promote south TN

Highlighting South Tamil Nadu as a destination for `big ticket' investments to speed up economic development — that is the aim of SPEED (Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development), an initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The three-day conference and exhibition to be held in Madurai between December 1 and 3 will quantify and project the strengths of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu for investments in a wide range of industries.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday on the initiative, Mr M. Lakshminarayan, Chairman, CII Southern Region and Joint Managing Director, Motor Industries Co Ltd, said that a CII task force had studied seven districts — Madurai, Sivaganga, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari — and proposed a model for investments based on their inherent strengths.

It is not just about economic development of South Tamil Nadu but also the benefit they present to the industries.

"Time has come when you do not have a choice," he said.

Cost competitiveness is key. Land costs and wages are mounting in urban centres. But in the South, land costs are still viable and there is abundant availability of skilled manpower. Over 6,000 engineering graduates move out of these places to jobs elsewhere, he said.

CII estimates that if the potential of this region is realised it would result in generation of over 80,000 jobs in the next few years.

Mr R. Dinesh, Co-Chairman of SPEED 2006 and Executive Director, Mr T.V. Sundram Iyengar & Sons Ltd, said that major industrial groups in a range of industries including automotive, textile and food processing are present in the South.

Chennai and Madurai are connected by 8 flights a day and major road projects are being expedited in the South. Tuticorin has one of the lowest cost ports.

Mr T. Kannan, Chairman, SPEED 2006, and Managing Director, Thiagarajar Mills Ltd, said that the CII task force had looked at facilitating infrastructure improvement, industry growth and employment generation and promoting select towns based on their inherent strengths.

The region contributes to a fifth of Tamil Nadu's GDP and infrastructure investments of over Rs 33,000 crore are planned there.

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