Centre envisages garland-like formation of industrial corridor in South India

A delegation from Germany is expected to meet the minister on Feb 5, in connection to setting up business in some of these areas

The central government is looking at connecting the major locations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to form a "garland" of industrial corridor, said Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E M Sudarsana Natchiappan. He added that while the state governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has come up with offering land for the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ), Tamil Nadu is yet to come up with proposals.

Speaking to reporters after distributing the Southern Region Export Excellence Award 2012-13 of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), he said, "We want to extend the industrial corridor not only to Chennai-Bangalore, but we want a garland-like formation starting from Thiruvananthapuram, connecting Nagarcoil, Tirunelveli, Virudunagar, Madurai, Vizhupuram and then Kancheepuram." From Kancheepuram, it could be connected the proposed Chennai-Bangalore corridor.

On the other side, the industrial corridor would be connected through Kochin, Salem, Coimbatore, Namakkal, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri. A delegation from Germany is expected to meet the minister on February 5, in connection to setting up business in some of these areas.

"The Government of Tamil Nadu is also ready to provide their SIDCO land and the TIDCO is also ready to contribute. We are working out with other Indian investors also. If it comes up, we can announce it as a NIMZ area. There would be two NIMZ area, one would be Kancheepuram and another would be Hozur and Dharmapuri area. We are working on it," said Natchiappan.

However, he said that while the state governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has come up with offering land for the NIMZ, Tamil Nadu is yet to come up with proposals. He added that the government wants to make Kacheepuram as a Japanese centre. The Japanese delegations are also interested to establish operations in this region.

The Government of Karnataka has already come forward with proposal to offer 5,000 acres in different locations in Karnataka and the German investors are expected to set up operations there.

The Ministry has come up with an e-business portal recently, to issue the approvals industry require from the ministry through online. The other Ministries are also expected to come up with similar systems to clear files and the Central government is also requesting the State goverments to come out with online portals for various approvals, he added.

The government is also supporting the infrastructure facilities in Tamil Nadu to get equipped to expand its offerings.for instance, around 850 acre of the Salt Corporation is being transfered to Ennore Port Ltd, for the Port to expand its offerings and facilities to handle more business. This would attract more investment into the region, he added. It is also helping the oil distribution firms to store their products and also is working towards settling the agitation by farmers against GAIL's Kochi-Mangalore gas pipeline, which has to pass through seven districts in Tamil Nadu.