Agrofood Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madurai, has welcomed the state government’s recent announcement about the reduction of prices of vacant plots in industrial estates, for which there were no takers on account of its high prices, by five to 75 per cent, for the first time in SIDCO’s more than 50 years of history.

Citing it, S Rethinavelu, president of the chamber, lauded the efforts of Chief Minister MK Stalin to facilitate the trade and industry to recover from the paralysis caused by the COVID pandemic.

In India, Tamil Nadu stands third next to Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in the distribution of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He said eight per cent of India’s MSMEs are located in Tamil Nadu. Next to agriculture, the MSME sector was providing high employment opportunities to society. The reduction in the prices of plots in SIDCO industrial estates would certainly enhance the industrial growth further, he said on Thursday.

J Rajamohan, secretary, said those involved in the food industry were mostly from small and micro enterprises and they prefer to set up their units in industrial estates rather than outside, since there won’t be any delay to obtain various licenses to start industries and also to get power connection. Hence, the reduction in prices of plots in industrial estates would enable those in the food industry to expand their business and motivate new entrepreneurs to invest more, he said.

The chamber also requested the Chief Minister to fix the sale price or rent of the industrial plots in food parks in the state at most competitive rates to make further industrial investments.