Thursday, October 01, 2009
Several new industries may set up shop in southern districts
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: Several new industrial sites are expected to come up in the southern districts in the near future, according to a senior official in the State Industries Department.
Citing Videocon, Sterlite Industries and Coastal Energy Company as companies likely to set up plants in the southern districts in the near future, the official said setting up industries in new areas was both a matter of the government creating “confidence and trust” in those who would invest their money, as well as the projects “financially making sense.”
The Ratnavel Pandian panel findings of earlier years are likely to have strengthened the Chief Minister’s desire to push forward with industrialisation in the southern districts, according to the official. It was with a view to “making it financially viable and more attractive,” that the Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had announced a number of steps towards promoting industrialisation in southern districts in the State Assembly last year.
Following numerous incentive and structured assistance packages offered by the State government, including soft loans carrying 0.1% interest towards Value Added Tax, given for three to five years, a number of new industrial plants are expected to set up shop in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram districts.
One company that has “indicated interest” in setting up a plant in the southern part of the State is Videocon. “They are considering a pretty big investment, of Rs.1500 crore, for all consumer durables,” the Industries Department official said. They may set up two plants – one at Manamadurai and another near Tirunelveli.
Sterlite Industries has said, according to the official, that they want to “double the size of their smelter plant in Tuticorin.” In this case too the planned investment would be around Rs.1500 crore.
Coastal Energy Company is yet another firm planning to set up a plant in Tuticorin, in this case a power project. “They have got the land, placed orders with a Chinese manufacturer and will be investing around Rs.5,000 crore,” the official said.
“We are also talking to a tyre company,” the official added. With an investment of up to Rs.1500 crore on the cards, a new plant may be situated in the vicinity of Kanyakumari and Nagercoil, which are important sources of natural rubber.
Touching upon the large size of the potential market for this product, the official said, “India is way behind the rest of the world in terms of radialisation and suddenly tyre manufacturers have realised that radials are the way forward. In India the demand for radials is picking up and everybody is in a hurry to establish those capacities.” While the tyre company in question has visited a proposed 100-acre site in the SIPCOT Industrial Estate, and “they are happy with the site,” the plans are yet to be finalised.
Overall there is a need to ensure that the physical and human infrastructure is suited to these investments if industrialisation of the southern districts is to advance further.
The official said the issues that would have to be taken up include: making smaller towns attractive to middle level managers, establishing reliable power connections, improving connectivity through the Madurai airport and expanding capacity at the Tuticorin port.
CHENNAI: Several new industrial sites are expected to come up in the southern districts in the near future, according to a senior official in the State Industries Department.
Citing Videocon, Sterlite Industries and Coastal Energy Company as companies likely to set up plants in the southern districts in the near future, the official said setting up industries in new areas was both a matter of the government creating “confidence and trust” in those who would invest their money, as well as the projects “financially making sense.”
The Ratnavel Pandian panel findings of earlier years are likely to have strengthened the Chief Minister’s desire to push forward with industrialisation in the southern districts, according to the official. It was with a view to “making it financially viable and more attractive,” that the Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had announced a number of steps towards promoting industrialisation in southern districts in the State Assembly last year.
Following numerous incentive and structured assistance packages offered by the State government, including soft loans carrying 0.1% interest towards Value Added Tax, given for three to five years, a number of new industrial plants are expected to set up shop in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram districts.
One company that has “indicated interest” in setting up a plant in the southern part of the State is Videocon. “They are considering a pretty big investment, of Rs.1500 crore, for all consumer durables,” the Industries Department official said. They may set up two plants – one at Manamadurai and another near Tirunelveli.
Sterlite Industries has said, according to the official, that they want to “double the size of their smelter plant in Tuticorin.” In this case too the planned investment would be around Rs.1500 crore.
Coastal Energy Company is yet another firm planning to set up a plant in Tuticorin, in this case a power project. “They have got the land, placed orders with a Chinese manufacturer and will be investing around Rs.5,000 crore,” the official said.
“We are also talking to a tyre company,” the official added. With an investment of up to Rs.1500 crore on the cards, a new plant may be situated in the vicinity of Kanyakumari and Nagercoil, which are important sources of natural rubber.
Touching upon the large size of the potential market for this product, the official said, “India is way behind the rest of the world in terms of radialisation and suddenly tyre manufacturers have realised that radials are the way forward. In India the demand for radials is picking up and everybody is in a hurry to establish those capacities.” While the tyre company in question has visited a proposed 100-acre site in the SIPCOT Industrial Estate, and “they are happy with the site,” the plans are yet to be finalised.
Overall there is a need to ensure that the physical and human infrastructure is suited to these investments if industrialisation of the southern districts is to advance further.
The official said the issues that would have to be taken up include: making smaller towns attractive to middle level managers, establishing reliable power connections, improving connectivity through the Madurai airport and expanding capacity at the Tuticorin port.
Labels: Coastal Energy Company, Industries Department, Madurai airport, Ratnavel Pandian panel, SIPCOT, Stalin, Sterlite Industries, Tuticorin port, Value Added Tax, Videocon
Friday, July 24, 2009
Initial focus on back office functions at financial city
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: Plans for a financial city announced recently by Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin will initially focus on back office functions, sources close to the project authority said.
The idea of a financial city is based on the fact that workforce in the State has a high level of skill in IT and accounting sectors, with some financial back office functions such as risk analysis for banks and hedge funds already being carried out here.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior official of the State Industries Department explained that the financial city was initially planned keeping in mind the reforms roadmap for the banking sector that the Reserve Bank of India announced over three years ago. If these reforms progress, Tamil Nadu should be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that emerge in this sector. While it was expected that the reforms would be revisited in March 2009, “due to the recession that has been put on hold,” the official said.
The official confirmed that the financial city project would nevertheless be taken forward in a “modular, gradual way.” In the first of several phases to be implemented, between 4 and 5 million square feet of workspace will be developed. In addition, work will commence on setting up 2000-3000 housing units. The first phase would also require the construction of “a convention centre, hotels, hospitals and a high-quality school, and subsequent phases would target scaling the project up 4-5 times,” according to the official.
The official suggested that South Chennai would be a likely site for the financial city. “The trade-off between the amount of land available for this project and the distance from the city is an issue,” the official said. The land required has not yet been acquired.
The next step in the project, to be implemented over 2-3 months, will be to conduct discussions with the relevant stakeholders, including banks, mutual funds and insurance companies. If government-owned land is available, then subsequent 3-4 months could see the implementing authority, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), bring on board a consultant to define the requirements and design of the financial city. A “networked” consultant such as Ernst and Young or KPMG may be hired, as this may lead to subsequent benefits in terms of the occupancy of the city.
The project would be structured as a public-private partnership similar to the Tidel Park venture, in which TIDCO owns 25%, the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu owns 4% and banks and other financial institutions own around 50%.
Regarding the broader vision for this project the senior Industries Department officer said, “In the long term we want to position ourselves tactically as being strong in both the manufacturing and services sectors. We will certainly be in competition with other States that are promoting financial centres, but Tamil Nadu is well positioned to overtake states like Karnataka in this area.”
CHENNAI: Plans for a financial city announced recently by Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin will initially focus on back office functions, sources close to the project authority said.
The idea of a financial city is based on the fact that workforce in the State has a high level of skill in IT and accounting sectors, with some financial back office functions such as risk analysis for banks and hedge funds already being carried out here.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior official of the State Industries Department explained that the financial city was initially planned keeping in mind the reforms roadmap for the banking sector that the Reserve Bank of India announced over three years ago. If these reforms progress, Tamil Nadu should be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that emerge in this sector. While it was expected that the reforms would be revisited in March 2009, “due to the recession that has been put on hold,” the official said.
The official confirmed that the financial city project would nevertheless be taken forward in a “modular, gradual way.” In the first of several phases to be implemented, between 4 and 5 million square feet of workspace will be developed. In addition, work will commence on setting up 2000-3000 housing units. The first phase would also require the construction of “a convention centre, hotels, hospitals and a high-quality school, and subsequent phases would target scaling the project up 4-5 times,” according to the official.
The official suggested that South Chennai would be a likely site for the financial city. “The trade-off between the amount of land available for this project and the distance from the city is an issue,” the official said. The land required has not yet been acquired.
The next step in the project, to be implemented over 2-3 months, will be to conduct discussions with the relevant stakeholders, including banks, mutual funds and insurance companies. If government-owned land is available, then subsequent 3-4 months could see the implementing authority, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), bring on board a consultant to define the requirements and design of the financial city. A “networked” consultant such as Ernst and Young or KPMG may be hired, as this may lead to subsequent benefits in terms of the occupancy of the city.
The project would be structured as a public-private partnership similar to the Tidel Park venture, in which TIDCO owns 25%, the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu owns 4% and banks and other financial institutions own around 50%.
Regarding the broader vision for this project the senior Industries Department officer said, “In the long term we want to position ourselves tactically as being strong in both the manufacturing and services sectors. We will certainly be in competition with other States that are promoting financial centres, but Tamil Nadu is well positioned to overtake states like Karnataka in this area.”
Labels: Chennai, Ernst and Young, financial city, Industries Department, KPMG, Tidel Park
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