CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday inaugurated seven projects, for which MoUs were inked during the Global Investors Meet last year, and laid the foundation stone for seven more at a total investment of Rs 10,054 crore.
While the investment is substantial in size, what is equally significant is the flow of capital to lesser industrialised districts of Tamil Nadu, which will act as a catalyst toward social and economic development in these areas, say industrialists.
Of the seven projects that were inaugurated on Friday, Growth Link Overseas Company Limited’s 5,000-employee strong footwear project has started operating in the relatively less-developed Tiruvannamalai district. Renewable energy major SunEdison’s solar power project, meanwhile, is coming up in Virudhunagar — a district which so far has only seen industries like firecrackers and matches.
The solar energy project is set to generate employment of over 2,000, according to the project proposal and is set to be a change from the high hazard industries currently operating in the region. According to senior government officials, Virudhunagar’s potential as a solar power hub is immense, especially considering the dry and sunny climate and SunEdison’s project could well be the first step towards realising that.
Jayalalithaa also laid foundation for seven other projects. Of these, MRF Ltd’s huge expansion of their existing facility at Perambalur is set to increase employment at the facility by almost 400. All of the projects are also spread across the State. “These are all projects that will have an incremental impact and nothing better could have happened. I have seen how the industrialisation of rural and undeveloped areas revolutionise their societies. A case in point is Vellore, where in a matter of 10 or 15 years, the district changed into something unrecognisable,” said Rafique Ahmed, chairman – Tamil Nadu, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The progress, however, will not happen at the drop of a hat. “We at the CII feel this will happen steadily but slowly. These industries and projects will first increase job generation, directly impacting the quality of life. They will in turn bring in ancillary units to supply to the larger ones,” said S N Eisenhower, chairman, CII – TN chapter.
The event was conducted from the Secretariat and saw the attendance of each of the firms’ top management. Prominent among them were Venu Srinivasan, CMD, TVS, Pierre-Andre de Chalander, chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain, Onkar S Kanwar, chairman, Apollo Tyres, K M Mammen, CMD, MRF Ltd., Ook-ki-Kim, MD, Samsung India Electronics.
The Chief Minister inaugurated new factories of the Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited and a couple of co-generation plants in cooperative sugar mills, at a total cost of Rs 1,865 crore. She also laid the foundation for TICEL Bio-technology Park III in Coimbatore district, ethanol factories in sugar mills and reverse osmosis plants in two sugar mills, all at a total cost of Rs 1,031.15 crore.