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
Monday, September 21, 2009
Financial City most likely in Sholinganallur
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: Highly placed sources in the State Industries Department on Monday confirmed that the planned Financial City in Chennai would most probably be housed in a 100-acre site of vacant government-owned land in Sholinganallur along the Old Mahabalipuram Road.
After the Deputy Chief Minister visited the site over the weekend, an Industries Department official said: “He is happy with the site.”
Probable site
“Although it is not yet finalised, this is most probably the site that we will go with,” the official said.
CHENNAI: Highly placed sources in the State Industries Department on Monday confirmed that the planned Financial City in Chennai would most probably be housed in a 100-acre site of vacant government-owned land in Sholinganallur along the Old Mahabalipuram Road.
After the Deputy Chief Minister visited the site over the weekend, an Industries Department official said: “He is happy with the site.”
Probable site
“Although it is not yet finalised, this is most probably the site that we will go with,” the official said.
Labels: financial city, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Sholinganallur, Stalin
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Talks on financial city in full swing
From The Hindu
* Stalin to visit potential sites to indicate his view
* Group discussions with finance service firms on
CHENNAI: Discussions between the State Industries Ministry and industry representatives on plans for the Chennai financial city are gaining momentum: the location of the city is to be finalised in one month and a list of potential occupants and the nature of services are to be finalised in two months.
“The Deputy Chief Minister will visit several potential sites for the financial city and then indicate his view,” a senior official in the Ministry said, speaking to The Hindu. Group consultations with a number of financial service companies are under way, he added.
Outlining the next steps, he said, “What we would like to do is to identify maybe ten possible services we could offer and of those we can decide on two or three to offer at first. And for those two or three, we would try to identify a list of ten or twenty companies that we would like to target.” This would be followed by presentations to these target companies on the services that the financial city would offer.
The ongoing discussions are also looking into the question of what incentives the occupants of the city should be offered. Highlighting capital investment incentives and tax sops given in the manufacturing sector, the Ministry official said: “For the financial city we need to understand what incentives would excite them. There is no point in saying, ‘We will give you this’ if that does not change his decision and we still end up giving the incentive.” To avoid this situation, a brief survey would be undertaken to ask prospective occupants: “What are the five things which you think are most important?”
Foreign players coming in
Discussions are also focussed on the process of identifying the list of potential occupants.
The plan to offer the services of the financial city to foreign players could be traced back to the banking roadmap that the RBI had earlier given. According to the roadmap, foreign banks could grow organically in India by opening new branches.
In this context, there is an opportunity. “We need to determine which banks have aggressively tried to get branch licences – that shows their intentions. Also, some of those who have already started some kind of office presence in India, we could approach them as that could be one list,” the official said. The same would apply to insurance companies that have struck agreements with local players.
The initiative is being developed in coordination with the Confederation of Indian Industry, the official confirmed. “We believe that in Tamil Nadu we have very good responsible and responsive industry and we can work in tandem,” he said.
Outlining the CII’s role, he explained that they are also coming out with ideas and suggestions and are in touch with other financial centres. The immediate steps, however, are concerned with defining the “product” more clearly.
“What we are very clear on is that our approach would not be to announce something very big, very huge, to dazzle,” the official said. The aim would be to forge a strong partnership with the private sector and try and take local players along, including Tamil Nadu-based organisations and then, moving forward, organisations in other parts of the country.
* Stalin to visit potential sites to indicate his view
* Group discussions with finance service firms on
CHENNAI: Discussions between the State Industries Ministry and industry representatives on plans for the Chennai financial city are gaining momentum: the location of the city is to be finalised in one month and a list of potential occupants and the nature of services are to be finalised in two months.
“The Deputy Chief Minister will visit several potential sites for the financial city and then indicate his view,” a senior official in the Ministry said, speaking to The Hindu. Group consultations with a number of financial service companies are under way, he added.
Outlining the next steps, he said, “What we would like to do is to identify maybe ten possible services we could offer and of those we can decide on two or three to offer at first. And for those two or three, we would try to identify a list of ten or twenty companies that we would like to target.” This would be followed by presentations to these target companies on the services that the financial city would offer.
The ongoing discussions are also looking into the question of what incentives the occupants of the city should be offered. Highlighting capital investment incentives and tax sops given in the manufacturing sector, the Ministry official said: “For the financial city we need to understand what incentives would excite them. There is no point in saying, ‘We will give you this’ if that does not change his decision and we still end up giving the incentive.” To avoid this situation, a brief survey would be undertaken to ask prospective occupants: “What are the five things which you think are most important?”
Foreign players coming in
Discussions are also focussed on the process of identifying the list of potential occupants.
The plan to offer the services of the financial city to foreign players could be traced back to the banking roadmap that the RBI had earlier given. According to the roadmap, foreign banks could grow organically in India by opening new branches.
In this context, there is an opportunity. “We need to determine which banks have aggressively tried to get branch licences – that shows their intentions. Also, some of those who have already started some kind of office presence in India, we could approach them as that could be one list,” the official said. The same would apply to insurance companies that have struck agreements with local players.
The initiative is being developed in coordination with the Confederation of Indian Industry, the official confirmed. “We believe that in Tamil Nadu we have very good responsible and responsive industry and we can work in tandem,” he said.
Outlining the CII’s role, he explained that they are also coming out with ideas and suggestions and are in touch with other financial centres. The immediate steps, however, are concerned with defining the “product” more clearly.
“What we are very clear on is that our approach would not be to announce something very big, very huge, to dazzle,” the official said. The aim would be to forge a strong partnership with the private sector and try and take local players along, including Tamil Nadu-based organisations and then, moving forward, organisations in other parts of the country.
Labels: CII, financial city, RBI, Stalin
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