Bill passed: Chennai-Kumari industrial corridor coming soon?

CHENNAI: The big-ticket Chennai-Kanniyakumari industrial corridor worth a whopping Rs 6,448 crore is likely to become a reality soon. For, the State government has passed a Bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Industrial Township Area Development Authority Act, 1997 (TNITADA).

Now, the government can create a Special Purpose Vehicle for industrial development — a separate entity that will plan, develop, administer and maintain the industrial area.With the amendment of the Act, industrial townships will be notified and a dedicated authority will be established for each proposed node. The project has six nodes — Madurai-Virudhnagar-Dindigul-Theni node; Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli node; Cuddalore-Nagapattinam node (the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment region); Ariyalur and Perambalur; Tiruchirapalli-Pudukottai-Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram (the proposed National Investment and  Manufacturing Zone).

A Special Purpose Vehicle will have to be created for each of the six nodes, according to the requirements laid out by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The SPVs would have the powers and functions of a Planning and Development Authority.

Why the amendment?

The authority constituted under Section 3 of the current TNITADA Act cannot delegate its powers and planning & development functions to any entity. Once the Act is amended, the Chennai-Kanniyakumari Industrial Corridor Project will be tabled before the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.  

Following this, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) will prepare a master plan for the construction of the industrial corridor in Tamil Nadu.The proposed Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor project is likely to generate more than 4.7 million additional jobs, driven by annual manufacturing output of $222 billion, according to a Comprehensive Development Plan prepared by the Asian Development Bank.

The first phase of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) project, which will have Madurai-Virudhunagar-Dindigul-Theni and Thoothkudi-Tirunelveli nodes, would require an investment of nearly Rs 91,000 crore.

The corridor’s influence area will cover 23 of 32 districts in Tamil Nadu, accounting for 64 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s area and 70 per cent of total population. The focus of the corridor will be on manufacturing.
The urban strategy for the CKIC will be combination of anchor cities and growth centres. Anchor cities are the crucial initial-state requirement to attract targeted industries.

Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Tiruchy, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Manaparai Premabalur and Kariakudi have been earmarked as anchor cities.