CHENNAI: Southern Tamil Nadu is fast emerging as South India’s new industrial and export powerhouse, buoyed by a wave of large-scale investments and targeted state policy. The launch of Vietnamese electric vehicle giant VinFast’s plant in Thoothukudi earlier this month has set the tone, drawing in capital and industry to districts including Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi and Madurai, creating what officials call a “significant economic corridor” in the state’s south.
For the southern region alone, the state has signed MoUs worth Rs 30,100 crore during a recent investors’ conference, promising 46,450 jobs. MSMEs have pledged an additional Rs 1,261 crore, with plans to create 1,000 jobs. Under the Naan Mudhalvan skill initiative, 350 people have been trained, with 250 of whom now working in training roles at VinFast.
Several big-ticket projects are in the pipeline. Singapore-based Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) is investing Rs 4,953 crore to set up a man-made fibre facility in Thoothukudi, while South Korea’s Hwaseung Enterprises will put Rs 1,720 crore into a large-scale non-leather footwear plant at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli. Thoothukudi is also set to host a 250-acre space park, a shipbuilding department, a common facility centre for moringa exports worth Rs 5.59 crore, and a zonal unit of the Tamil Nadu Food Processing and Agri Export Promotion Corporation in Tirunelveli.
Industries Minister TRB Rajaa says the state’s decade-long logistics master plan will unlock the south’s trade potential through multi-modal logistics parks in Madurai and Thoothukudi, and an air cargo complex in Thoothukudi to accelerate high-value and time-sensitive cargo movement.
This industrial push is reshaping the region’s shipping landscape, with VOC Port in Thoothukudi and Adani Group’s transhipment hub at Vizhinjam, Kerala, both vying for the region’s growing cargo volumes.
Officials stress the two facilities will complement each other and both are expanding aggressively.
Vizhinjam, a public–private partnership between Adani Ports and the Kerala government, has handled 395 ships and 840,000 TEUs in under a year, including ultra-large container vessels like the MSC Irina. Its more than 20-metre natural draft gives it an edge in berthing mega ships without dredging. A Rs 10,000 crore second and third phase, starting October, will triple crane capacity and allow five mother vessels to dock simultaneously. But its lack of a strong manufacturing base means it must source cargo from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The shelving of the Rs 27,000 crore Enayam transshipment project in Kanniyakumari has boosted Vizhinjam’s ambitions. “We are planning to tap cargoes from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” a port spokesperson told TNIE , noting that road and rail connectivity to hinterland hubs remains a bottleneck.
For Tamil Nadu, the Enayam cancellation was a setback, prompting a renewed push to make VOC Port a transshipment hub. Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advocate for the Rs 7,055 crore Outer Harbour Project, which would deepen berths and expand container facilities.
In the interim, VOC Port has deepened berths to 14.2 metres, widened the turning circle, and reclaimed 11.5 hectares for storage and green cargo operations. But draft limitations still bar the newest mega container ships. Port officials say VOC remains a “gateway port” serving its local hinterland, while Vizhinjam is purely a transshipment facility.
“Currently, 95% of Thoothukudi’s containers are transshipped via Colombo and 5% via Vizhinjam,” said a private terminal official, adding that lack of direct road links to Vizhinjam means cargo from Coimbatore and Tiruppur is still shipped through Thoothukudi. “Once connectivity improves, some volumes could shift directly to Vizhinjam.”
A Vizhinjam port spokesperson said that the port, just 10 nautical miles from the busy Suez–Far East route, can reduce India’s reliance on Colombo port, 135 nautical miles away, which handles 70% of India-bound transshipment cargo. Its location could lower costs, speed up trade, and strengthen India’s position in global shipping networks.
Kerala’s higher land costs could drive port-related infrastructure — SEZs, container freight stations, warehouses — to southern Tamil Nadu districts. While Vizhinjam’s deep draft positions it as a transshipment leader, VOC Port’s diversified cargo base and stronger industrial hinterland offer resilience, said a exporter.
With billions in new industrial investment, a logistics overhaul, and two major ports expanding in its orbit, southern Tamil Nadu is positioning itself as South India’s next major export hub — anchoring the region firmly on global trade routes.