The Hindu Business Line : CII launches Chennai zone

According to Mr Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Council, CII-Southern Region, the idea behind forming the new zone is to enhance the quality and services of the CII and ensure a balanced regional development.

In Tamil Nadu, CII has similar wings in Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Madurai. It has also opened offices in Karur and Thoothukudi.

Top three

Mr V. Ranganathan, Partner, Ernst & Young, is the Chairman of the Chennai Zone and Mr G.R.K. Reddy, Managing Director, Marg Constructions, the Vice-Chairman.

Tamil Nadu is now among the top three States in terms of GDP and literacy. It is the leader in attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) with 9.12 per cent share of the total FDI into the country, Mr Srinivasan pointed out during his presentation.

Kanchipuram district alone produces over 15,000 engineering graduates every year, same as Gujarat, and Chennai district has over 4.64 million mobile subscribers, same as Orissa, are some of the key statistics he came out with.

Talking about ‘Building Inclusive Cities’, one of CII’s programmes, Mr Srinivasan said integrated public transportation, traffic management, water and waste management and city spatial planning will be the key focus areas.

Later, addressing the press, Mr Ranganathan said 45 per cent of CII-Tamil Nadu members are from the Chennai zone, and the new wing will play a catalytic role in addressing local issues.

Chennai Zone contributes 39 per cent of the State’s GDP. Chennai accounts for 60 per cent of the country’s automotive exports. The focus areas for the new wing include skilled human resource development. Students will be trained in skills appropriate to the industrial clusters in the area.

“CII will create opportunities to give institutes an industry exposure by placing students and faculty on projects with the industry to get the students industry-ready once they are out of college,” said Mr Ranganathan.

More Stories on : Industry Associations | Tamil Nadu

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