CHENNAI: Prioritising focus areas for stimulating industrial growth in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that the procedures for obtaining approvals from district-level offices would be simplified further. He also called upon the industries to utilise the workers of Tamil Nadu to avoid any slackness in industrial productivity.
The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating the Luminous Tamil Nadu, a digital conclave organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) through the video-conferencing facility at the secretariat, in which over 500 frontline industries took part. “In this difficult phase, I have advised the officials to focus on four issues — facilitating the industrial houses to return to their normal position very soon, attracting new investments, simplifying the procedures for getting approvals from the government, simplifying the procedures for providing loans so that the rotation of money required for industries could be increased,” the Chief Minister said.
Pointing out that due to COVID-19, many migrant workers had returned to their home States, Palaniswami said the industries should utilise the workers in Tamil Nadu to avoid any slackness in industrial productivity. In this connection, the Chief Minister assured that the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation would be ready to provide special training to the workers in association with the CII.
Stating that many reforms have already been rolled out to ensure ease of doing business in Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister said the procedures for obtaining approvals from the labour department, local bodies at the district level would be further simplified. “I have no doubt this initiative will further strengthen the investor-friendly climate in Tamil Nadu,” Palaniswami added.
The recent study by Elara Securities Inc said five States in India including Tamil Nadu were leading a recovery in the economy while most industrialised States like Maharashtra and Guajarat were lagging behind. Through the COVID-19 Relief and Upliftment Scheme (CORUS), `120 crore capital loans have been disbursed to 955 companies so far.
“COVID-19 has brought in many changes in our lifestyle — wearing masks, keeping physical distance, and working from home in certain sectors have become the new normal. At a time when the world economy is recovering, Tamil Nadu government has been taking many steps to make the State the numero uno in the country. The government has been announcing relaxations in the lockdown considering the livelihood and industrial growth,” Palaniswami said and added that his government had been closely monitoring the situation and would announce more relaxations depending on the situation.