The Hindu Business Line : Governor does a SWOT analysis

THE Tamil Nadu Governor, Mr P.S. Ramamohan Rao, has urged the IT industry and the State Government to collaborate more in research and development (R&D) to counter the threats posed by neighbouring States not only in the IT sector but also other industries. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra are major threats for the State, he added.

In his valedictory remarks at the Connect 2002 here on Friday, Mr Rao said Tamil Nadu needed to put a lot more resources on R&D. The remark was part of the SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis the Governor did on Tamil Nadu.

Talking about the State's strength, Mr Rao said Tamil Nadu is an intellectual capital - second to none. The social infrastructure was good, especially in education and healthcare not only in Chennai but also in tier II cities such as Madurai, Salem and Coimbatore. The State is way ahead of similar towns in other parts of the country. The State has also established a leadership position in manufacturing, automobile, textile, leather sectors and the IT industry, he said.

Referring to weaknesses, Mr Rao said there are three or four major deficiencies of infrastructure in the State. A lot needed to be done in water supply within the State. There have been complaints about the "chaotic" traffic jams, lack of cleanliness and bad roads in the city.

In order to remove the infrastructure bottlenecks, the Governor suggested creation of a city task force with active participation by the CII and the IT industry along with the State Government. In Bangalore, such a partnership was established between the Government and the local industry with the creation of a Bangalore city task force to clear the infrastructure bottlenecks, he added. On opportunities the State had, with specific reference to the IT industry, Mr Rao said that BPO (business process outsourcing) can give the ballast, and bread and butter to the development of IT industry in Tamil Nadu. Disaster recovery was another area that offers good opportunity, he said.

Talking on e-governance, Mr Rao said "e-governance has not even touched a fringe of the problems of the country."

Another area offering a lot of commercial and business potential was integration of all databases including the census operations, remote sensing, agricultural universities and land records. Not much has been done to integrate database and use it effectively to formulate policies and growth strategies, he said. While the two-day conference came to an end on Friday, the exhibition would continue for the next two days.

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