TIRUNELVELI: The Global Investors Meet (GIM) that opened in Chennai, bringing together top corporate honchos including Tamil Nadu’s own entrepreneur Shiv Nadar of HCL fame, brought cheers among the industrial fraternity in the southern districts, as the inaugural session assured big investments to Madurai and south. They wanted at least 30 percent of the investments mobilized through GIM to be diverted to the South.
Speaking to DC over phone from the GIM venue, Petchimuthu, a salt manufacturer from Thoothukudi expressed his utmost happiness over the fact that the chief minister, Dr J Jayalalithaa, herself stated that she would encourage investors to explore the conducive investment climate in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
Further, welcoming Shiv Nadar’s assurance to set up software development centres in Madurai and Tirunelveli and to invest around US dollars one billion in the southern districts in the next five years, Petchimuthu urged the HCL chief, a native of Thoothukudi district, to give more priority to the port city in his investments. Equally enthusiastic about the ongoing two-day global investors’ meet, the former CII task force chairman, Edwin Samuel of ‘Pearl shipping’ in Thoothukudi, who urged that at least 30 per cent of the investment mobilized by GIM be diverted to the southern districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari that now have better connectivity by road, rail, air and by sea.
“V.O. Chindambaranar port, the second largest port in the state would be of much help for EXIM trade,” opined Edwin, who too highlighted the advantage of these four southern districts lying within five-hour drive from three international airports—Thiruvananthapuram, Madurai and Tiruchy apart from a domestic airport at Thoothukudi.
The shipping agent too wanted the government to take quick steps to develop the Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor to make the southern districts a more attractive investment destination in the state.
The businessmen, though they welcomed the Union minister of state for road transport and highways, shipping, Pon Radhakishnan’s statement about developing the Colachel fishing harbour as an international transshipment hub, which has the State’s support, were however, not fully happy with the minister’s (Ponnar) approach.
