In the recently held CII’s Tamil Nadu State Annual Meeting 2022-23 in Chennai, several industrialists have praised the TN Government’s various policies and moving forward in Ease of Doing Business. The conference organized under the theme of “Advancing Tamil Nadu’s Rise” has discussed various key issues and steps to be taken to achieve the State’s goal of becoming $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Tamil Nadu’s software exports touched Rs. 1.76 lakh crore this year. In terms of ranking, TN is ranked the 3rd nationally. With our continued growth, we are confident of ranking higher in the coming years”, said Mr. T. Mano Thangaraj, Hon’ble Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services, Government of Tamil Nadu, at the Advancing Tamil Nadu’s Rise Conference organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“The State of Tamil Nadu has worked out the sectors that needs to be targeted to make TN be a $1 trillion economy by 2030. It is not only select sectors that have the highest growth rates globally but also products that also has the highest growth rates. We also have to evaluate what are the inherent strengths that TN has and can be leveraged,” said Ms. Pooja Kulkarni, IAS, Special Secretary, Industries, Investment Promotion & Commerce Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.
“I am optimistic that in the past 4 years, the $60 billion investments committed by industries in various forums and meets will witness a conversion rate of over 75% in the coming years. This is much higher when compared to other States. These investments, we are confident will help us achieve the targeted $1 trillion comfortably,” she added.
“Tamil Nadu moved from 14 to the 3rd rank in Ease of Doing Business in the past few years which is an impressive feat by itself. We are confident of reaching No.1 shortly. The single window clearance portal is the biggest asset for the government. It has helped everyone tremendously. We appreciate the feedback that CII and industries share with us. It is very important for us to hear and implement what more we can do for the industry with the feedback we receive,” said Mr. Vishnu Venugopal, IAS, MD & CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu.
Ms. Suchitra Ella, Co-Founder & MD, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., said: “The sky is the limit for Tamil Nadu to lead not only in South but Nationally too. The State has many inherent strengths be it, its natural coastline, biotech, strong education system, culture, diversity, manufacturing, IT, services, etc. There is a strong presence of MSME, Educational institutions and Manufacturing clusters in cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and other Tier II cities”.
“Tamil Nadu continues to be a strong and resilient economy and it is fast moving towards becoming a $1 trillion economy. The State is leading in many socio-economic indicators including economic growth, health, education, infrastructure, entrepreneurship among others”, said Mr. Satyakam Arya, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council & Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. “Tamil Nadu continues to be the best performing State in India”, he added.
Mr. P. Ravichandran, Past Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council & President, Danfoss India, suggested that 3 main factors, viz., Reimagine, Repurpose & Rebuilding of TN can help the State to achieve $1 trillion economy target.
Mr. T.T. Ashok, Past Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council & Managing Director – Taylor Rubber Pvt. Ltd., in his address, said TN is the wonderful State in which foundation already in place. It is a inclusive State & we should look beyond achieving $1 trillion by 2030.
“Tamil Nadu has to overcome three aspects for it to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030. TN needs to work doubly hard to attract nearly $200 bn of investments. These investments have to come from private and government sector and FDI. We need to attract more FDI which is currently at $4 billion. The second aspect is the looming labour shortage of nearly 50 lakhs that the manufacturing and construction industry alone will face in the coming years. The third aspect is reducing the emissions and making carbon neutrality by 2040 instead of 2070,” said Mr. B. Santhanam, Past Chairman, CII-SR, & CEO, Asia Pacific & India Region & Chairman, Saint Gobain India.
“The real increase in the GDP lies in the services industry. If the State can ensure there is a transition from Agriculture to Services takes place, the target set by the Government by 2030 can be comfortably achievable,” said Mr. Davinder PS Sandhu, Co-Founder & Chairman, Primus Partner & Senor Advisor (Infrastructure), World Bank.
“Tamil Nadu continues to be the strongest manufacturing State in the country, the most industrialized, is the 2nd wealthiest by GDP, has a phenomenal work ethic, historically proven to lead when it comes to skilling and education, enjoys a strong administration and the government encourages industrial growth too. It is encouraging to see this momentum will be sustained and we hopefully will see many new Indian MNCs come up as we move towards 2030,” said Dr. Lakshmi Venu, MD, Sundaram Clayton Ltd.
“The Indian industry today has the quality, technology, and ability to implement and at a global scale. Today, as we travel, I am happy to see colleagues from our industry growing overseas. As we grow overseas, as an Indian, I actually feel very proud. I firmly believe, this era will be the coming age of the Indian industry,” she added.
Mr. Srivats Ram, Managing Director, Wheels India Ltd., in one of the panel discussion said that TN should focus on the selective sector where it has capabilities and not in all.
Other speakers and panelists at the conference highlighted Tamil Nadu’s diversity and integrity that Tamil Nadu has to offer to everyone who prefers to either work in Tamil Nadu or establish themselves.
Indian Business Review 