The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : State to soon have dedicated project facilitation committee

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Sunday, Jan 24, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

State to soon have dedicated project facilitation committee

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will soon form a dedicated project facilitation committee to explore partnerships with private investors in power generation and development of sea port, Special Economic Zones and townships, said Rajeev Ranjan, Principal Secretary – Industries, here on Saturday.

Addressing the Plenary Session on ‘Destination Tamil Nadu – Leading India’s Progress,’ at CII Partnership Summit 2010, Mr. Ranjan said low-cost production base, lower wage rates and availability of skilled manpower were among the key factors that contributed to the State’s emergence as one of the fastest growing and largest economies of India.

He said the State was an export hub for many global automobile companies and produced a wide range of products, from bicycles to battle tanks. It accounted for 32 per cent of the automobile production in India. Every minute, three cars were produced and every 75 seconds, a commercial vehicle was rolled out.

In 2010 alone, it would attract $3 billion investment in car production. The total installed capacity of cars was being added at 1.28 million every year, making Chennai one of the top 10 centres in the world in car manufacturing.

PWC Davidar, IT Secretary, said despite global slowdown in 2008-09, software exports from the State increased to Rs.36,680 crore from Rs.28,426 crore in 2007-08. Tamil Nadu had also achieved international standards in delivery of software services to export markets in parameters of quality, manpower, product and timeline.

V. Irai Anbu, Tourism Secretary, said the State’s tourism industry offered great potential for water sport and adventure sport. The State had five among the 26 UNESCO heritage sites. The State government was promoting investment opportunities in 18 lesser known destinations, by providing 10 per cent capital subsidy.

K. Ganesan, Principal Secretary – Department of Higher Education, said over five lakh students enrolled for various streams of higher education in Tamil Nadu, which had 456 engineering colleges and 386 polytechnic colleges. Tamil Nadu was the only State in India that has introduced universal semester system, choice-based credit system, grading system, and easy transfer of credits.

Chairing the session, C. K Ranganathan, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council, said Tamil Nadu occupied an enviable position among Indian states in industrial development with one of largest, fastest growing economies.

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