‘Govt's failure to move beyond MoUs has left industrial engine sputtering'
Tamil Nadu
has long been heralded as the industrial heartbeat of South India. From automobiles and electronics to textiles and petrochemicals, our state has stood as a symbol of innovation, enterprise, and economic resilience.
Such a legacy demands vision, discipline, and above all, execution.
As a man who steered Tamil Nadu's economic growth earlier, I am disturbed by this dangerous erosion in our industrial momentum under the current govt. Earlier this year, Chief Minister M K Stalin proclaimed that his govt facilitated industrial investments worth ₹6.64 lakh crore. A staggering figure at first glance. But scratch the surface, and the truth is far less flattering.
As per the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and the Reserve Bank of India (Q4 2023-2024), the actual realised investment is more than a quarter of that amount. The remainder exists only in the form of MoUs and announcements. In the past four years, several flagship projects that could have reshaped our economic geography remain in planning purgatory.
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The Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC), for instance, was conceived as part of the East Coast Economic Corridor.
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The ambitious 590 km stretch was meant to revitalise 23 districts through better port connectivity and industrial expansion. Despite a ₹3,500 crore loan from the Asian Development Bank, the project has seen sluggish progress. Tenders such as EPC-15 and EPC-07, floated in 2020 and 2021, witnessed delays in finalisation.
As of today, less than 10% of the proposed road length has seen tangible work. This corridor could have brought prosperity to our southernmost districts, but sadly, it remains largely on paper.
The Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) was envisioned to bridge Tamil Nadu's northern districts with India's tech capital, Bengaluru. A special purpose vehicle was created, and a master plan for the Ponneri node was drafted. Although master planning has concluded, core infrastructure remains incomplete and major investments are yet to be grounded.
Billed as Tamil Nadu's answer to Gujarat's Dholera and Maharashtra's Aurangabad corridors, the Coimbatore-Salem-Chennai High-Tech Corridor was supposed to be our gateway to next-generation manufacturing.
Today, industrial parks such as Sipcot Krishnagiri remain underutilised. With five strategic nodes — Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem, and Tiruchirappalli — the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor was launched to position the state as a defence manufacturing hub.
MoUs worth ₹11,794 crore were signed, but only ₹3,861 crore (33%) has been actualised.
The fallout of such inertia is not just economic, it is human.
In terms of employment, based on standard projections, Tamil Nadu could have generated more than 400,000 direct jobs had these corridors progressed as intended. Tamil Nadu is increasingly losing out to more agile states that offer clearer approvals, proactive governance, and visible outcomes. Our state's Human Development Index tells its own story.
While Chennai stands at 0.841, districts such as Nagapattinam lag at 0.699.
Industrial corridors, if executed properly, would have reduced this disparity. Instead, the gap is widening.
Tamil Nadu's Gross State Domestic Product for the financial year 2024-25 is ₹17.23 lakh crore, with manufacturing contributing approximately 35%. Yet the foundation of that industry, sectors like logistics, warehousing, and transport, are underperforming. The Coimbatore Multi-Modal Logistics Park has faced slippage in timelines.
The warehousing policy promised in 2023 is still awaiting approval.
In its tenure, the AIADMK hosted two successful Global Investors Meets in 2015 and 2019, collectively drawing more than ₹3 lakh crore in investment. The govt facilitated land acquisition, sped up clearances, and ensured that MoUs translated into operational businesses. It is not too late to change course. But it requires political will and administrative discipline.
The AIADMK proposes a three-pronged approach to industrial renewal. The first is time-bound corridor execution. Every corridor must be governed by a Chief Minister-chaired task force with quarterly targets. For CKIC, tenders must be finalised and project design groundwork started post mid-2026, with a deliverable milestone of 100 km of road by mid-2027. For the CBIC, fast-track plans to operationalise the Ponneri node, aiming for readiness by the first quarter of 2027.
Tamil Nadu must also move beyond the Chennai-centric model. By 2027, the AIADMK proposes to develop 25 district-level MSME clusters with pre-zoned, plug-and-play infrastructure. Focus areas include technology and electronics in Madurai and Sivaganga; defence manufacturing in Salem and Hosur; and agro-processing and food tech in the Cauvery Delta and southern districts.
To improve transparency, a digitised, single-window clearance system with real-time tracking is proposed along with a dynamic land bank registry to help industries locate viable plots and a RERA-style industrial oversight authority to audit project progress and ensure accountability.
Industrial development is not a vanity project. It is an unending commitment to economic equity, youth employment, and regional prosperity. The DMK govt's failure to move beyond MoUs has left our industrial engine sputtering. Our entrepreneurs wait. Our youth emigrate. Our investors look elsewhere.
The AIADMK is committed to changing this. We believe Tamil Nadu can — and must — lead India's next phase of industrial growth. It is time to move from paper corridors to real factories, from rhetoric to results.
(The writer is Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu)
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