The Hindu Business Line : South among the best on all economic indices: CII

Chennai June 25 The South has come into its own; gone are the days when it would have to benchmark with the North for economic growth. It now needs to look inwards to set its agenda and learn from the lessons of its neighbours, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry - Southern Region (CII-SR).

Addressing a press conference here on Monday on the agenda for 2007-08, Mr P.K. Mohapatra, Chairman, CII - Southern Region, said that on all the economic indices such as growth in income, industrial product, social indices and State Government's liabilities, the South ranks among the best.

It was against this backdrop that the CII-SR has set its sight on factors that would give the South the strength to pull ahead, the theme being "The Southern Leap Forward" within the larger picture of the Confederation of Indian Industry's agenda - Building People. Building India.

Long-term framework

The CII-SR would look at developing a long-term framework, VQ1, as it has dubbed it, a vision for the first quarter of the century, and where it would like the South to be in 2025. Leading consultants — such as PricewaterhouseCoopers for Tamil Nadu, KPMG for Kerala and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, for Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh — would put together a vision document after wide consultations with a cross section of industry, government and public.

`Southern synergies' is another topic that CII-SR has picked, Mr Mohapatra said. Some of the outstanding successes such as developing smaller cities and towns as seen in Tamil Nadu, agriculture and agro-based industries of Andhra Pradesh, tourism promotion by Kerala, innovation by Karnataka and livelihood enhancement in Puducherry are lessons that one could learn from the other, he added.

Urban planning

CII-SR would also concentrate on building sustainable cities.

Urban planning is something that has to look a decade ahead. The problem of urban infrastructure in Bangalore is something that other cities should not fall prey to.

Carrying the benefits of development across the State and segments of population - inclusive development is another issue that CII-SR is keen on.

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