Tirunelveli District - Economic Profile

Economic Profile

Tirunelveli has been an agricultural area throughout its history. The district is a major producer of rice, coconuts, bananas, spices and forest-based products. The district's livestock and poultry populations are as follows:

The district is home to almost 50% of the buffalo population of Tamil Nadu.

India Cements Limited is a cement manufacturing company in India. The first plant was set up at Sankarnagar in Tirunelveli in 1949.India Cement is 3rd largest cement company in India.

Since it is a coastal district, Tirunelveli is also involved in fishery development and production. For the period 2005–2006 the total inland fish catch was 1,874 tonnes, and the total marine fish catch was 7,014 tonnes. The district is also rich in minerals, with a total of 407 mines and quarries. Limestone, granite and garnet sand are some of the minerals mined or produced in the district. Major industries include textile, food and forestry products. A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was introduced at Nanguneri in 2001. A pharma park and windmill spare-parts and television-manufacturing factories have been planned in this SEZ. The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has planned a Rs 700-crore high-tech industrial park in Nanguneri in association with INFAC Group and Axes Technologies Inc of the US. The state government is planning light manufacturing, design and assembly facilities, modern infrastructure facilities and amenities in this SEZ to attract a workforce from around the world.