The Hindu Business Line : Foundry parks coming up near Coimbatore

IN an effort to provide small foundries located in different areas in the city a common manufacturing platform and to address the problems faced by them on the pollution front, two foundry parks are being established by the Coimbatore Tiny & Small Foundry Owners Association' (Cosmafan) close to the city.

While one industrial estate is coming up on a 150- acre site in Arasur off the Coimbatore-Salem National Highway, the other is being established in Manickampalayam, off the Coimbatore-Mysore highway, near Annur.

The association believes that it is probably for the first time that an industrial estate of 150-acre size is being established by the industrial units themselves, contrary to the normal practice of governments promoting industrial estates.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr P. Udayakumar, Secretary, Cosmafan, said since the foundry industry has been classified as `red category industry', there has been a demand that units should not be located within city limits because of concern over pollution.

The industrial units faced difficulties in getting their licences renewed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the association wanted to re-locate the units outside the city.

He said while in UP and Punjab, the State Governments had established exclusive industrial units for industries classified as hazardous, in case of small foundries in Coimbatore, the Cosmafan itself took the initiative of scouting for suitable land to house the foundries.

The association was in the process of completing purchase of about 150 acres in Arasur village. Both the State and central pollution control boards have given their in-principle approval for the location. The application for re-classification of the land as industrial land is under the consideration of the Government and it would be notified as `special and hazardous zone'.

The association has also identified a 50-acre site in Manickampalayam for locating another estate for foundries.

Mr Udayakumar said while the Arasur park would attract small foundries located in areas such as Peelamedu and Singanallur, Manickampalayam might be the preferred choice for those located in Ganapathy, Avarampalayam etc in the city. He estimated the land purchase cost for the two foundry parks at Rs 5.3 crore. In the Arasur foundry estate, the land allocation might range from 50 cents to two acres per unit, depending on the size and requirement. The minimum investment required would be around Rs 25 lakh.

The association expected an allocation of Rs 10.50 crore under the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme, jointly proposed by the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association, Indian Institute of Foundrymen, Cosmafan. But the association would not wait for the allocation of funds and would take up the project work after the re-classification of land is done.

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