The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A breakthrough for Tamil Nadu in hardware segment

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Friday, Apr 08, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A breakthrough for Tamil Nadu in hardware segment

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 7. The memorandum of understanding signed between the Finnish electronic major, Nokia, and the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, on Wednesday has been described as a "breakthrough in the hardware segment" for the State.

After a series of projects in Information Technology, IT-Enabled Services and software facilities coming to the State, the Nokia project provides a "special boost" to manufacturing and components in the electronic sector.

Official sources said here today that the MoU marked the culmination of a series of exchanges and a couple of meetings with top Nokia executives starting from December, when the leading cellphone company expressed its intention to set up a manufacturing facility in India.

"It was a tough contest involving Maharashtra, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Because of the swift responses from Chennai and the special package that was offered, Nokia opted to settle for Tamil Nadu," a senior official said. The Chief Minister topped her offer with a first-time product-specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Sriperambudur, about 45 km from Chennai.

IT and SIPCOT officials explained that aside from providing space to Nokia for setting up a manufacturing facility, the SEZ complex would provide a platform for vendors and suppliers. A whole lot of component manufacturers were expected to set up shop in the zone. "We are assured of new, cutting-edge technology coming into India and Tamil Nadu. And like the automotive major, Hyundai, Nokia will concentrate as much on the domestic market as on exports to the Asia-Pacific region," an official connected with the project negotiations said. Considering the world-class facility that was to be set up, the Chief Minister promised to provide matching infrastructure. Quality power supply with back-up arrangements was built into the package offered to the company. The land required was offered at a "very reasonable price." Its proximity to Chennai and the air and seaport connectivity that went with it added value to the package. There was enough space for expansion.

Feather in the cap

For the State, the decision by Nokia to set up its facility here marks another feather in its cap. After IT majors Infosys, Wipro, and Satyam decided to expand their operations in and around Chennai and the World Bank selected the State's capital to set up its back office operations, the latest project, officials said, pointed to an "Advantage Tamil Nadu" situation in the extremely competitive environment.

Without resting on its laurels, the State administration planned to push ahead with some of the major infrastructure projects and promote Coimbatore in the first phase as another IT and ITES centre. The Ascendas project to provide a huge IT complex was nearing completion and the IT corridor beginning with the six-lane highway was about to take off. "With these projects, the State is fully geared for the projected rapid expansion of the IT sector over the next two years to generate perhaps 500,000 jobs" the official said.

Welcoming the project announcement, the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it only indicated the "excellent investment climate" here and hoped that good infrastructure facilities would attract more industries.

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