Nirmala meets Jayalalithaa; discusses extension of VCIC

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and discussed the possibility of extension the Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) in that state.
Sitharaman also requested her to appoint an officer to take care of the issues of export-oriented industries in the state with a view to promoting trade.
"I spoke about extending the (VCIC) down south to Tuticorin and also offered that it can be extended westward till Colachel," the commerce and industry minister told reporters after her meeting.
Sitharaman said that the Chief Minister accepted the suggestion and stated that she would send a team to the commerce and industry ministry to discuss the matter.

When asked whether she discussed about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Sitharaman said there was no discussion on that.
But she added that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that he would contact every political party to seek their support for GST and "I am sure AIADMK and the Tamil Nadu chief minister will also be contacted by the Finance Minister".

On a question if BJP is aligning with AIADMK, she said: "we work together with all the states. So we will work together with Tamil Nadu also".
The VCIC will be India's first coastal economic corridor. Spanning over more than 800 kilometers of India's eastern coastline, the VCIC is part of India's East Coast Economic Corridor. ADB is helping in drawing up a master plan for this.

Later in a series of tweets, Sitharaman said that she also discussed developing a dedicated logistical hub in Tamil Nadu to boost the port-based ecosystem under Sagarmala project.
She also requested the Chief Minister to appoint a nodal officer to work with the commerce and industry minister to improve export performance of the state.