Economy of South India - Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu's net state domestic product is the second largest in India. It is second most industrialized state in India next to Maharashtra. It ranks second in per capita income (2004–2005) among large states. It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991-2002) of Rs.225,826 million ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra (Rs.366,024 million ($8,100 million)) and Delhi (Rs.303,038 million ($6,700 million). The State's investment constitutes 9.12% of the total FDI in the country. According to the 2001 Census, Tamil Nadu has the highest level of urbanization (43.86%) in India, which accounts for 6% of India’s total population and 9.6% of the urban population. It has 10 corporations, namely Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Salem, Tirunelveli, Erode, Tirupur, Vellore and Thoothukudi.

Tamil Nadu has most number of engineering Institutions in India. Chennai is referred as the Gateway of South India. Chennai is the Second leading Software exporter in India. Companies such as Cognizant, Covansys, Xansa, Verizon, iSoft, Ascendas and many others are Chennai based companies in India. Infosys has set up India's largest software development centre to house 25,000 software professionals at an estimated investment of Rs 1,250 crore (Rs 12.5 billion) in Chennai. Coimbatore is growing as a preferred IT destination in India. It already ranks among the top 7 IT exporters in the country. Unlike other States in India the state has many software tier II cities such as Madurai, Salem, Trichy and Tirunelveli. Chennai has become the most preferred BPO hub in India and South Asia. Chennai is sometimes referred to as the "Health Capital of India" or the "Banking Capital of India", having attracted investments from International corporations and the World Bank and it is called as Detroit of Asia.

Tamil Nadu has a network of about 110 industrial parks/estates that offer developed plots with supporting infrastructure. Also, the Government is promoting other industrial parks like Rubber Park, Apparel Parks, Floriculture Park, TICEL Park for Biotechnology, Siruseri IT Park, Agro Export Zones among others.

The heavy engineering manufacturing companies are centered around the suburbs of Chennai. Chennai boasts presence of global car manufacturing giants like Ford, Daimler, Hyundai, BMW, Mitsubishi, Komatsu, Yamaha, Nissan and Renault as well as home grown companies like MRF, TI Cycles of India, Ashok Leyland TVS and Mahindra and Mahindra. Chennai is also home to one of the Indian Institutes of Technology, IIT Madras. The Koyambedu Bus Stand (Asia's largest bus stand) operated by CMDA is the first bus stand in India to get (The Global Positioning System) which will use sensors to track vehicles on the move.Kalpakkam nuclear power plant, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, and the Narimanam natural gas plants provide sources of fuel and energy for the nation. 55% of electricity from wind power produced in India from wind mills comes from Tamil Nadu. The Kalpakkam Mini Reactor(Kamini) is the only U-233fueled operating reactor in the world.

Coimbatore, also known as the "Manchester of South India", is one of the fast developing cities in India and the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. It is the largest city in the Kongu region, which contributes to more than 50% of the state's GDP. Now, most of the Indian Software companies have started their development centers in Coimbatore and it is already among the leading exporters in the field. Coimbatore is also known for its textile factories, engineering firms, automobile parts manufacturers, health care facilities, educational institutions, wet grinders and water pumps. 76% of India's total textile market is from Erode ("Loom City") and Tirupur ("Textile City"). It exports much of its production to South East Asian and European countries. Erode is also known as the "Turmeric City", since it has the Asia's largest market for Turmeric. Gobichettipalayam is one of the largest producers of White silk with the country's first automatic silk reeling unit established here. Namakkal is one of the largest producers of poultry in the country.

Sivakasi is the leader in Printing, Fireworks, Safety matches Production in India. It contributes to 80% of India's total Safety Matches Production, 90% of India's Total Fireworks Production and 60% of India's Total Offset Printing Solutions and ranks as one of the highest Tax payer towns in India.

Tamil Nadu is leading producer of kambu, cholam, ground nut, oil seeds and sugarcane in India.

Biovalleys in Tamil Nadu include Biotechnology Incubator Park Near Chennai, Women's Biotechnology Park Kelambakkam, Medicinal Plants Biotechnology Park, Madurai, Marine Biotechnology Park, Madapam and Bioinformatics and Genomics Centre (BGC), Chennai