MADURAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday said a TIDEL Park would be set up at a cost of `600 crore to make Madurai a technology hub. The information technology park, which would create 10,000 jobs, would be built on five acres near Mattuthavani in the first phase, and would be expanded by another five acres in the second phase, the CM said.
The announcement was made at the south zone MSME conference ‘FaMe TN’ organised by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department in Madurai. The park would be constructed by TIDEL and the Madurai city corporation through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
“Two decades ago, then CM M Karunanidhi opened the TIDEL park in Chennai leading to a massive growth in the information technology sector in the State. Taking the development to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the TIDEL company later opened an IT park in Coimbatore. We are exploring options to open neo-TIDEL parks in seven districts,” Stalin said.
The CM said his government would assist MSMEs as they are essential for the State’s development. “Tamil Nadu has improved from 14th rank to third rank and will soon reach first rank in the ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’. The State has also performed well in the ‘Startup India Rankings’. Through industrial growth, the State will achieve the trillion-dollar economy goal by the end of 2030,” the CM said.
Minister for MSME TM Anbarasan spoke about the schemes launched by the State government for the growth of the sector. The Rs 1,391-crore credit limit set for MSMEs by banks under the Tamil Nadu Trade Receivables Discounting System (TN TReDS) would soon be increased to `5,000 crore, the minister said. The CM also inaugurated the ‘School Innovation Development Scheme’ that aims to develop vocational skills of students of Classes 9 to 12 and promote their entrepreneurial skills.
Stalin distributes awards to three banks, 8 bizmen
A joint initiative by the Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute-Tamil Nadu (EDII-TN), the education department and UNICEF, the scheme aims to offer special skill-based training to 1.56 lakh students through 3,120 teachers. Innovative ideas from 40 student groups would be selected and they would be rewarded Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh under the scheme.
An online service to register Memorandum of Deposit of Title Deeds and Equitable Mortgage was also launched to benefit 6.5 lakh people. Special loan schemes for developing MSMEs and CARE (COVID Assistance and Relief to Entrepreneurs) schemes were inaugurated and the Indo-American Chamber of commerce and FaMe TN signed an MoU for developing MSMEs for Industry 4.0.
The CM distributed awards to three banks which had offered special loans for development of MSMEs, and eight best entrepreneurs in the State. Orders for three micro clusters -- a doll cluster in Vilacheri, water hyacinth cluster in Thoothukudi and women loom cluster in Thalavaipuram -- to be set up at a total cost of Rs 9.05 crore were also issued.
Ministers Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, P Moorthy, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and officials from MSME department were present.