19,615 acres to be acquired in nine southern districts

The Madurai Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor (MTIC) project, which is under proposal for the past many years to boost industrial development in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, is gaining momentum with funding from Asian Development Bank (ADB), said Minister for Industries M.C. Sampath.

Speaking to industrialists here on Sunday as part of a roadshow organised ahead of Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (TNGIM) planned in January, he said the government was planning to acquire 19,615 acres of land for industrial development in nine southern districts that will benefit from the corridor. “Of this, acquisition is already underway in various stages for about 5,000 acres,” he said.

He said that the MTIC project was being executed as part of Chennai Kanniyakumari Industrial Corridor, which has six nodes, including the Madurai-Virudhunagar-Dindigul-Theni (MVDT) and Tirunelveli-Thoothukudi (TT) nodes. “These two nodes will be developed first. A Comprehensive Development Plan is ready and the work for preparation of a Master Plan through ADB will commence soon,” he said. Stating that the MTIC will significantly boost industrial development in the region, K. Gnanadesikan, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries, said southern districts already had huge potential, particularly in terms of power generation. “There is no other region in Tamil Nadu that has so much power generation capacity, that too through a variety of non-renewable and renewable sources. This is important for industries,” he said.

He said that while ₹ 500 crore had been set as the minimum investment threshold for Chennai region to avail financial incentives from the government, and ₹ 350 crore for other districts, the same has been kept at ₹ 250 crore for southern districts. “We want more people to invest here,” he added. Arguing that there was a misconceived perception that Tamil Nadu was not doing well in industrial development, Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary, Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce, said a number of surveys by independent organisations had ranked the State among the top three in the country.

Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, Secretary, Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said southern districts had an advantage in terms of land cost for industrial development. “In case of Chennai or Coimbatore regions, roughly 20% to 25% of project cost is spent for land. That is not the case in southern districts,” he said.

Madurai Collector S. Natarajan said that while the southern region was often portrayed incorrectly as a place with law and order issues, the situation on the ground was different. “The districts are peaceful and conducive for investment,” he said.

M. Ponnuswami, Chairman, Tamil Nadu, CII, lauded the government for bringing in special legislation and online portals to avoid bureaucratic delays.