'TN among top 3 in infrastructural development'

The Tamil Nadu government sees itself as a successful example for the public-private partnership (PPP) for infrastructure development in power, roadways, railways, ports, irrigation and telecommunications.

At the Suminfra 2004 seminar organised by CII in Bangalore, Rameshram Mishra, secretary, industry, and chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development of Corporation Limited,said: "Tamil Nadu ranks among the top three states in India for infrastructural development according to various independent studies."

He was addressing the delegates in the session, 'Invest Tamil Nadu', on the scope and opportunities for private participation in infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu.

One of the PPP projects is the Ticel Bio Park, a venture promoted by Tidco at a cost of Rs 62.50 crore. Another such initiative is the launch of the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project at an outlay of Rs 2,160 crore.

This is for the construction of 393 kilometres of state highways between Arcot and Tiruvarur, the 330-km highway linking Nagapattinam to Tuticorin and the upgrading of nearly 2,000 kilometres of state highways and major districts. Close to Rs 500 crore is being provided for the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project during 2004-05.

In his presentation on 'Opportunities in Infrastructure Projects in Tamil Nadu', M Velmurugan, additional director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Council, said that it was the private sector that played a major role in Tamil Nadu's successful initiatives in infrastructural development.

Tamil Nadu is the second largest power generator producing 9,299 mw of power and has seven private power companies. An additional generating capacity of about 1,900 mw is in the pipeline.

"With a submarine cable linking Chennai with Singapore, Tamil Nadu ranks number one in bandwith availability of 8,400 gbps. This will attract the global IT majors to set up shop in Chennai," he added.

The state government plans to take up the development of the Cuddalore Port on a build-own-operate-share-transfer basis at a project cost of Rs 250 crore. A new jetty has been constructed at the Nagapattinam Port at a cost of Rs 56 crore enabling the movement of 5 lakh million tonne of oil.