The Hindu Business Line : Infrastructure needs serious attention in TN

The Government should try and map the strengths of the tier-II and tier-III towns and tap those strengths rather than supplant what has been successful in Chennai.

BUMPY RIDE: A file photo of a national highway

Chennai , Dec. 31

A mid-year election and a change in the party in power — a change that was more or less anticipated given the alliances and the arithmetic involved — set the tone for the year that was in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK returned to power having stitched together the stronger of the two alliances that contested the polls, but not with the kind of majority it would have liked. The DMK, which did not bag the required number of seats to be able to form a Government on its own and is being supported from outside by its allies — Congress (I), PMK and the Left parties, contested the elections promising a slew of freebies — colour TV sets, cooking gas, distribution of wasteland and rice at a low price.

And, the first few months in power have been taken up in fulfilling one promise after another.

Major change

The change in party in power also signified another major change as far as Tamil Nadu was concerned — better relations between the State and the Centre, something that was not there when the AIADMK was in power, mainly because the DMK was part of the NDA Government and now with the UPA Government.

The change in party in power resulted, as expected, in a large-scale reshuffle of bureaucrats. More importantly, the bureaucrats are more open and accessible, as far as the media is concerned, with the Chief Secretary and about a dozen heads of some key departments even addressing the media on a range of topics, something unprecedented as far as the State is concerned.

One of the most significant decisions taken by the DMK Government pertains to shifting over to a value-added tax system. From the New Year, Tamil Nadu too will join the other States, barring Uttar Pradesh, in having VAT. There are bound to be glitches, as the officials repeatedly point out, all of which need to be ironed out as tax-payers and officials become more accustomed to and comfortable with the new system.

The DMK Government has its task cut out. VAT was just one issue that industry in the State was concerned about. Infrastructure, or the lack of it, is a more serious issue.

Chennai creaking

Chennai is creaking at its seams and if the Government does not act fast, there is every possibility that it too will get the kind of negative publicity that Bangalore attracted.

A more comprehensive urban planning process is needed if Chennai's problems are to be sorted out. One that involves transportation (improving the public transportation system and providing the roads for motorists to use and the parking space to accommodate the growing number of vehicles), drawing up more effective zoning laws and strictly enforcing them and developing satellite towns so that residential accommodation for the thousands of jobs that get created is available closer to the work spot.

The information technology and information technology-enabled services sectors have fuelled unprecedented growth in the city. The Government is keen that this growth spreads to other parts of the State, what it calls the tier-II and tier-III towns. For which it wants to promote the information technology in smaller towns. Instead, the Government should try and map the strengths of these tier-II and tier-III towns and tap those strengths rather than supplant what has been successful in Chennai.

Over the last few years, two major centres of manufacturing have developed on the outskirts of Chennai. One is the Maraimalai Nagar region, along NH 45 that connects the city to the southern part of the State, and the other the Sriperumbudur region, along the national highway connecting Chennai to Bangalore. Both these have become manufacturing centres thanks to two automobile companies — Ford in the case of Maraimalai Nagar and Hyundai Motor in the case of Sriperumbudur. Both of them brought in their suppliers, not to mention a few other multi-national companies. Sriperumbudur is also the region where a number of IT hardware manufacturers, beginning with the Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia, have chosen to put up their manufacturing facilities.

The investment continues to flow and Tamil Nadu is definitely the envy of other States as far as attracting hardware manufacturers is concerned, the latest being the computer producer Dell.

However, all this will last only if infrastructure is improved. As it is, there are complaints of delays in moving in raw materials and shipping out finished products from some of these new companies that have come in. The Government has to act fast before the complaints become louder.

The Old Mahabalipuram Road, or the IT Corridor as it is commonly referred to, is a classic example of poor infrastructure. This stretch of road is witnessing unprecedented levels of construction activity, so much so that by rough estimates nearly 2.5 crore sq ft of office space for the IT sector alone is under construction. A number of property developers have announced plans to set up large-sized residential projects with the development getting pushed further beyond Chennai.

The Government announced plans to improve this road to "international" standards and entrusted this work to a company which was half owned by the State Government. That project is running months behind schedule, with just a 3-km stretch getting improved, that too at least 18 months later than what was originally scheduled, and not much progress beyond that. By the time, this project to improve the road from Taramani to Siruseri, a 23 km stretch, is completed, at the pace of progress, the six-lane road might just not be enough to handle the number of vehicles that will use that road.

Therefore, this calls for a more radical initiative. Probably an elevated expressway along the whole stretch or a mass transportation system — a mono-rail perhaps.

Is the Government ready for such a kind of thinking or would it focus all its energies on more freebies, is the question that the industry and investors would like to know the answer for.

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