CHENNAI: Industries Minister TRB Rajaa on Tuesday said Viksit Bharat is only possible if New Delhi learns the Dravidian model of growth.
Speaking at the launch of the Chennai forum of Confederation of Indian Industry’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Employment and Livelihood, Rajaa said the Dravidian model gave importance to education and the project “Puthiya Payanam: Valarchiyai Noki” of the CoE is more apt for the model.
Stating that Tamil Nadu is the engine driving the country’s economic growth, Rajaa said Tamil Nadu has emerged as a powerhouse for MSMEs. With nearly 5 million MSMEs, Tamil Nadu accounts for 15% of India’s entire MSME sector, employing around 14 million people, and 99% of these are micro-enterprises, he said.
Highlighting the quality of products manufactured by the state’s entrepreneurs, Rajaa cited an example of Kanth in UP, which was into making bandages for a long time, while Chatrapati in Virudhunagar started recently. He said Chatrapati has a revenue of Rs 500 crore while Kanth has a revenue about Rs 100 crore. Rajaa said he personally wants a tag ‘Made in Tamil Nadu’ added to the products manufactured in the state.