With the Global Investors Meet (GIM), to be held at Chennai in the second week of September, to ensure a minimum of Rs. 1 lakh crore investments to in the State, fast approaching, the Tirunelveli District Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TDCCI) team is all set to meet the top brass organising the meet with the hope of diverting at least 30 per cent of the proposed investments to the southern hinterland that craves for industrial investments and consequent employment opportunities.
As the Tamil Nadu Government expects to garner over Rs. 1 lakh crore during the GIM by showcasing the advantages of investing in the State and instilling confidence in the minds of potential investors by simplifying and expediting the clearances required, the TDCCI has decided to meet the officials organising the meet with one plea: “Divert at least 30 per cent of the total investments to be realised during GIM to Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts.”
Led by its president Gunasingh Chelladurai of Bell Group of companies, the TDCCI team is to meet top officials, including the Industries Secretary, to submit its memorandum. “We’ll be much happier if we can get the appointment of the Chief Minister to submit our appeal,” Mr. Gunasingh told The Hindu .
He argues that the district with a high literacy rate and a good number of educational institutions producing a few thousand skilled graduates could be the right choice as Chennai and neighbouring districts such as Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet are almost industrially saturated.
“We’ve got vast tracts of land, including AMRL Multiproduct SEZ at Nanguneri, suitable for industrial investment. Since Tirunelveli district has been declared as an ‘Electronic manufacturing cluster’ by the Union government, the investors will get 30 per cent investment subsidy. If they set up their unit within the SEZ, the investor will get an additional 20 per cent subsidy. You can buy 20 acres of land at the cost of one acre in Chennai. So Tirunelveli will be the natural choice for any investor,” he said.
He appealed to the government to immediately start work on the expansion of Tuticorin airport by expanding the runway with night landing facility and other allied infrastructure so that it can handle larger aircraft carrying more number of passengers instead of the smaller fixed-wing aircraft.
“Since we’ve to go all the way to either Madurai or Thiruvananthapuram airports whenever we cannot get tickets in this tiny aircraft, the government should expand the airport immediately as it will immensely benefit the business community from Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts,” Mr. Gunasingh said.
Endorsing Mr. Gunasingh’s views, president, AMRL Multiproduct Special Economic Zone, N. Eshwar Rao said that he had to spend up to Rs. 20,000 for the Chennai-Tuticorin ticket whenever demand went up. “Expansion of Tuticorin airport, operation of larger aircraft and increase in service alone will bailout the industrialists from this situation,” Mr. Rao said.
