Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday launched the Phase II of the Vision 2023 which provides the roadmap for the implementation of 217 infrastructure projects at a cost of Rs 15 lakh crore.
“The tasks to be accomplished and the projects to be implemented have been identified. We need to start the actual implementation of the proposed projects. The goals and tasks are many and the time is short”, the Chief Minister said in her foreword to the Phase II document.
She said her government does not merely talk and puts out lofty ideals and policies, but actually gets down to taking hard decisions and staying the course.
Of the envisaged investments to the tune of Rs 15 lakh crore, projects worth Rs 3,89 lakh crore investments have been allocated for energy sector while projects worth Rs 3.68 lakh crore goes for transport sector. The other sectors and the proposed investments are as follows: industrial and commercial infrastructure (Rs 1.71 lakh crore), urban infrastructure (Rs 2.63 lakh crore), agriculture (Rs 1.21 lakh crore), human development (health and education — Rs 59,140 crore), general and social infrastructure projects (Rs 75,000 crore) and capital improvements to existing projects (Rs 53,367 crore).
The Phase II document gives profiles of the specific projects and programmes identified in the various sectors, highlighting the rationale for choosing these projects and their impact. The profiles and ideas would be converted into feasibility reports, detailed project reports and specific schemes.
They would be taken up for implementation by different agencies - some in the public sector mode, others as public-private partnership and in some cases, as private sector initiatives with the help of the Tamil Nadu government.
Package for South
In a bid to woo investments in the southern districts, the government has come out with a special package for nine districts under its new industrial policy.
The policy document states that the package for the nine southern districts — Thoothukudi, Theni, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari — would be higher than the one available for other districts.
Investments worth Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 crore is needed to avail of incentives under mega projects in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts and Rs 350 crore to Rs 1,000 crore for the remaining 20 districts. But to get a mega project status and avail incentives in the southern district, the investor has to invest above `200 crore.
The government is also providing a back-ended capital subsidy and electricity tax exemption for investments in the southern districts besides 50 per cent stamp duty concession for projects located other than industrial parks promoted by SIPCOT. In the case of ultra-mega projects and the projects located in SIPCOT Industrial Parks this will be 100 per cent.
The state government is offering package of incentives for investment in southern districts by classifying projects into mega (Rs 200 to Rs 500 crore), super mega A (Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 crore), super mega B (above Rs 1,500 to Rs 300 crore and generating employment of 350 in six years) and ultra mega (above Rs 3,000 crore and creating employment of 500 in seven years).
The CM also announced several ambitious policies for vital sectors, including industry, automobile and biotechnology. She said that according to data available with the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance (SIA), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the cumulative investment approved by the Central government in Tamil Nadu through the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum and Letter of Intent routes grew by Rs 1,02,908 crore between May 2011 and December 2013, representing a 32 per cent increase.
She added that the Phase II document includes profiles of 217 infrastructure projects in six major sectors. She pointed out that some of the suggestions received during Phase I of the project had been addressed in the Phase-II document.