CHENNAI: The State government is likely to unveil its FinTech Policy next month that will lay the roadmap for positioning Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu as FinTech hubs. The focus of the policy will be to provide incentives for start-ups, the infrastructure the State will be building, and the ecosystems, which will come up to make the State a FinTech hub, said official sources.
Meanwhile, a FinTech cell has also been set up comprising members from Guidance and the industry. An official also highlighted the role of the cell. Along with the policy, the State will also come out with a FinTech Council, which will have members from the industry as well as the government. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has already begun marketing the capital city as a FinTech hub with Pooja Kulkarni, MD and CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu, taking part in FinTech Festival India 2021-22.
According to Ernst and Young, Chennai is fast becoming one of India’s key start-up hubs, centred on the SaaS (Software as a Service) business, with over $1 billion in revenue, a workforce of over 15,000 people, and over $500 million in investment from local and international investors.
Meanwhile, the `165-crore financial city project, which is likely to come up in IDPL land, opposite the Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam, is also gaining shape with the project management consultant likely to be finalised by the middle of next month, said sources. “The work on 60 acres has resumed and the remaining work is underway,” said sources.
The project was earlier proposed at Perumbakkam near Sholinganallur, off the OMR, by the previous DMK government in September 2009. Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation had even identified about 180 acres at Perumbakkam. The project failed to take off before the DMK’s term ended. The next AIADMK government rejected the Perumbakkam site and started looking for an alternative within the city. The Nandambakkam site was initially proposed in 2012.
The FinTech city will be built with infrastructure to house financial institutions, non-banking financial services, financial BPO, regulatory agencies, financial market operations, and training centres.