Southern Progress Through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED)

After one-and-a-half years of marketing its SPEED initiative to the State Government, the CII, southern region is taking its proposals to corporate investors. It will hold an exposition-cum-conference called SPEED 2006 to showcase the strengths of Tamil Nadu's southern districts in Madurai from December 1 to 3.

Four-pronged strategy presented by CII in March 2005

1. To create a manufacturing hub in Madurai, with satellite hubs in Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin.

2. An export-cum-services hub at Tuticorin.

3. Knowledge corridors at Madurai, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli.

4. Tourism corridors at Madurai, Karaikudi, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari.

SPEED 2006 chairman and Thiagarajar Mills managing director T. Kannan expects the southern districts to attract fresh investment in infrastructure and manufacturing which will have the potential to create 80,000 new jobs over the next three years.

The plan called for large infrastructure investments by the Government. Mr. Kannan says there have been two rounds of talks with the departments concerned and the proposals have been received well. SPEED co-chairman and TVS executive director R. Dinesh says the conference will provide a platform to present its initiative to corporates and harness new investment.

The conference will be inaugurated by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is also likely to participate. Key leaders from Indian industry have also been approached, including Infosys' Nandan Nilekani, United Breweries' Vijay Mallya, Ashok Leyland's R Seshasayee and HCL's Shiv Nadar.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/02/stories/2006110204250500.htm

Link to picture of Madurai Bench of Madras High Court.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=238873&page=3

It can be found at the end of the page.

When I was in Madurai in April, 2006 the construction was still ongoing.

Do you mean the project shown on the picture was progressing?. why is that, there is no news about the progress of the project?. I thought only the Ellis nagar bridge over the railway line was progressing.

Please update us on the progress of the project as per your visit to madurai.

South Tamil Nadu: An investment hotspot

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/02south.htm

T Kannan, chairman, SPEED 2006 and managing director, Thiagarajar Mills Ltd, said that the southern districts(Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Tuticorin), which contribute to over 19 per cent of the GDP

Is this true?. Do the southern districts contribute around 20% of TN GDP. I cannot beleive this information.

I am not at all suprised that south TN (including madurai) contribute 19% of TN's GDP. Excluding madurai most of the region is a bunch of very successful towns - Sivakasi, Virudhnagar, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, kanyakumari, kovilpatti, Rameshwaram, Sathur etc . So when u put all of their GDP together they make a fair share in the state's GDP.

What this region lacks is one strong secondary city like tiruppur , sivakasi (forgive me if i brag about my ancestoral town) is one such town that can be built as a successful city but still a long way to go. Like most businessmen in sivakasi do not want to go public, take overs are driven by hostility rather than strategy etc.

Sivakasi is not doing well the past few years. The match box and fireworks industry are in a slump. The printing industry is surviving though. I beleive that Tuticorin could be the town one could consider for development in lines with Madurai city.

I beleive Tirunelveli could come next. When these two towns along with Madurai city develop there could be real development seen in south TN. Virudhunagar district also has lots of succesful towns which could be developed with virudhunagar at the center of development.

Yeah tuticorin would be an important hub in the future with its port and sethusamudhram, more like a life line for the region. I wish they take a integrated industrial development for the region.

In Sivakasi:- The match box is a very thin margin industry, it was in a slump for a while. In fact the situation is quiet risky as u say. With diminishing margins, in oder to cut cost most of the factory owners have invested heavily in machinery most of them imported. If they dont see profits soon they are going to be in deep shit. As far as fireworks....I was under the impression that it was doing well, I recently read in Hindu that the suppliers could not meet the demand during last deepavali season. And quiet a large amount of overseas expansion by the big players in the past few years. Maybe labour shortage or something else is pulling the industry down.

Small towns flying onto aviation map


In 2003, no more than three non-metros were linked to foreign cities by direct flights. The number has now gone up to an impressive 15, with international flights going to Trichy, Gaya, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Goa, Calicut, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Coimbatore. According to civil aviation ministry sources, Kanpur, Madurai, Mangalore will join the list in the coming months.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/299553.cms

'Change policies, we'll beat China'.

A P Selvaraj , president, Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers' Association talks about "Sivakasi's potential to emerge as an exports hub":

Can you give us a picture of Sivakasi's cracker industry?.

Sivakasi has 600 registered cracker-manufacturing units. They employ more than 2.25 lakh people. Another two lakh persons are employed indirectly. The units manufacture crackers worth Rs 700 crore every year. Besides, they also churn out crackers worth Rs 500 crore for the Diwali season. So, the industry's annual turnover works out to Rs 1,200 crore.

Unlike in the past, today, most licensed units are professionally run by educated youth. I would say that 30 per cent of the registered units have adapted to newer technologies, both know-how and machinery. Machinery doesn't cost much. But, know-how from China costs a fortune.

Where does Sivakasi stand in terms of exports?

Not much. It works out to roughly Rs 10 crore annually. We mainly export to South Africa and Canada. But Sivakasi, like Tirupur, can become a big foreign-exchange earner, if the government adopts cracker-friendly policies.

How does the industry in Sivakasi compare with China?

We're nowhere near. China has cracker-friendly government policies. It exports crackers worth Rs 6,000 crore a year. It's possible because there're not much restrictions. For example, we can't export any rocket exceeding the size of six inches in length and three-fourth of an inch in diameter.

Chinese firms don't face such problems. The solution is to bring crackers under a separate Act. Presently, they, along with high explosive items, come under the Explosives Act. We need to delink crackers from explosives.

MORE....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2235707,curpg-2.cms

^^ ^^

willywick, a nice article about ur ancestral town :) .

Thanks maduraiveeran! :)

Nice article!

But one thing I dont totally agree. I do not know how much that govt can do in terms of "cracker friendly policies". Many small scale units that supply to the big companies rely on old manufacturing techniques and cannot really meet their demand. With more educated people taking up these units hopefully they should soon shift to mass production. In fact thats the reason(unavailability of large quantities of raw materials at the right price) why many of the sivakasi investors like standard fireworks have invested in overseas markets (china) to supply to the global market.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Southern Region is organising Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED), a unique exposition-cum-conference showcasing the strengths of Tamil Nadu's southern districts between December 1-3, 2006, at Madurai. SPEED 2006 will host a three-day interactive and demonstrative exhibition, a two-day conference and a buyer-seller meet.

The objectives of the event are to quantify and to project the strengths of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by creating hubs, satellites and corridors with the focus on emerging sectors such as manufacturing, ITES, education, food processing, textiles, health care services and tourism, said T Kannan, chairman, SPEED 2006, and managing director, Thiagarajar Mills Ltd.

He said SPEED will harness new investment initiatives and business opportunities for the southern districts of Madurai, Sivagangai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari; initiate new innovative ideas; create platform for partnership and networking opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship among students.

He said some of the key topics that would be deliberated upon at the conference include: services & IT excellence in SPEED, opportunities in IT/ITES, educational infrastructure and competitiveness in southern Tamil Nadu, opportunities in automotive/textiles/food processing, key trends and opportunities in health Tourism, destinations in Southern Tamil Nadu and connectivity issues, among others.

A Skills Training Institute was also proposed to be set up in Madurai to promote soft skills for diploma-holders in particular, which would help improve employability and higher levels of jobs.

The event will also have parallel conferences titled Opportunities Galore - South Tamil Nadu; Positioning Hubs, Satellites & Corridors (Madurai as a Manufacturing Hub, Thoothukudi port as a Gateway for Trade, Madurai-Thoothukudi Highway as a Manufacturing Corridor) and Health Tourism & Hospitality - A Perspective.

The key players representing automotive, food processing, IT & ITeS, logistics, textiles, healthcare services, educational institutions, printing, rubber, finance and insurance and tourism will be taking part in the exhibition.

Ligi George, chairman, CII Madurai Zone, and managing director, Madras Suspensions Ltd, said the efforts to establish a proposed a 230-acre IT Park in Madurai had gained ground. The Tamil Nadu government was also trying to acquire 2,500 acres for industrial use which would give a fillip to rapid industrialisation of the southern districts.

http://www.chennaionline.com/events/Business/2006/11speed.asp

MADURAI: Air Deccan, on Tuesday, announced the launch of the Madurai-Bangalore flight from October 30. This will be its second service from the city.

R. Krishnaswamy, Chief of Corporate Planning, told journalists that Madurai had the potential to become an international airport soon. Air Deccan would introduce A320 service by 2007 summer from here if the development works at the airport were completed in time. Air Deccan also planned to connect Madurai with Mumbai, he said.

The Chennai-Madurai flight enjoyed good patronage, with a 90 per cent load factor. He was confident that the Bangalore service would provide a fillip to the business and leisure and tourist traffic.

The objective of the airline, he said, was to "take out the exclusivity of airline flying and make it a common mode of transport."

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/25/stories/2006102510890100.htm

The airliner has plans to connect Madurai with Mumbai and Delhi with transit points in Chennai and Bangalore. The plans would take shape after the completion of upgrading works in Madurai Airport, Krishnaswamy said adding that Airbus 320 would be engaged in the Madurai route by next April.

The airliner, would press into service a 72-seater ATR-72 aircraft on the Madurai-Bangalore sector. Air Deccan promotional fares on the Bangalore-Madurai-Bangalore sector starts at Rs 274 (plus taxes). Tickets for Rs 6 (plus taxes) are also available till offer lasts.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20061025020600&Page=T&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0

--------------
Good to see that Chennai-Madurai has 90% patronage. Hope to see more services between Chennai and Madurai. If I am correct, this is a 48 seater ATR-42.
Surprising to see that Bangalore-Madurai is served by ATR-72. Does Air Deccan have ATR-72s? The timings have been changed to an evening flight on both directions and this is great. Hope it gets good patronage. What happened to Paramount's plan for a Bangalore-Madurai direct flight this month?

Do you mean the project shown on the picture was progressing?. why is that, there is no news about the progress of the project?. I thought only the Ellis nagar bridge over the railway line was progressing.

Please update us on the progress of the project as per your visit to madurai.

Dear Madurai Veeran,
Ellis Nagar ROB news has been coming in the dailies for the past 1 year. Most of the news came as part of the Railway news like Minister of State for Railways' visit to Madurai etc., It was supposed to be over by Dec this year. But, things keep changing. If and when this is built, this will relieve the congestion in that area, better look for that place and possibly with more spans in the bridge, a good chance for more lines out of the Railway station in the southern side.

Excerpts from PM's speech during the foundation laying function at Chennai

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
For the past 2½ years, under the guidance of Soniaji, we have been working hard to take this state to new levels of development. Three cities – Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai have been covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. We hope to give these cities first-rate infrastructure, including modern transport services.

Modernisation of airports
We will support the efforts of the State government in all possible ways. We will begin work soon on the modernisation of Chennai airport. Plans are being made for the development of Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy airports.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=21742

Excerpts from PM's speech during the foundation laying function at Chennai

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission


Modernisation of airports


http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=21742

There information about JNHUM is confusing, because there are various moves by State Govt, ring roads, other road projects, modernisation of transport, bridges, water project and all, to project Madurai as Tourism hub. Which are the moves inside the JNHUM is not clear.

Same with Airport expansion but with another view, sometimes they say that the airport is expansion is done for the International airport target, and sometimes they say its for non-metro modernisation.

They give different names and show the same work! Am i exgerating the situation?

There information about JNHUM is confusing, because there are various moves by State Govt, ring roads, other road projects, modernisation of transport, bridges, water project and all, to project Madurai as Tourism hub. Which are the moves inside the JNHUM is not clear.

Selvam here is the list of projects to be undertaken at Madurai under JNNURM. This list was compiled by Madurai in the previous MDU-Trichy region thread. A sum of nearly 1500 crore Rs. is to be spent in Mdu. So, many projects can be included without any problem

Project Sub-Components Units Quantity Cost Rs. Lakh

(i) Improvement of Major Orbital Roads
Widening and Strengthening
2 laning of Major Bus Route Roads Kms 90 1,800.00
New Formation
Outer Ring Road Phase II (2 Lane) Kms 17.50 7,000.00
Outer Ring Road Phase III (2 Lane) Kms 11.50 4,600.00
(ii) Improvement of Major Radial Roads
Widening and Strengthening
Widening and Strengthening BCC road Km 441/0 -443/0 Kms 2.00 400.00
Widening and Strengthening Madurai -- Natham Road Km 0/0 -1/4 Kms 1.40 300.00
Widening and Strengthening Madurai -- Cochin Road Km 3/2--5/2 Kms 2.00 500.00
Widening and Strengthening BCC Road Km 444/2-444/8 Kms 0.60 600.00
Widening and Strengthening NH Byepass Km 436/2--440/8 (Urban Limits) Kms 4.60 100.00
Strengthening Trichy -- Madurai road Km 446/449/4 Kms 3.40 2000.00
(iii) Integration & Up gradation of SH Network with NH
Integration of SH (Madurai -- Natham Road) with NH 45 B at Uthangudi and NH 7 at Samayanallur Kms 16.00 3,200.00
Integration of SH 32 with NH 7 from TVS Alagappan Nagar -- Avaniapurm -- Jeeva Nagar Airport (Madurai -- Tuticorin Road) Kms 10.00 2,000.00
Integration of SH(old NH45 B) connecting Madurai-- Alagarkoil road Madurai Natham with NH 7 Kms 14.00 2,800.00
Road branching from Km 2/8 of NH 7 connecting Thirupparankundram -- Nilaiyur - Parabupatti -- Perungudi -- Madurai Airport Jointing at Km 7/2 of Madurai -- Tuticorin road Kms 10.00 2,000.00
(iv)Formation of New Link Road
Vandiyur Melamadai Road Km 2/8 to Ring Road including construction of Minor Kms 1.40 300.00
Road branching from Km 447/6 of Trichy --Madurai road (Flower Market) to meet Ring Road Kms 4.00 1,000.00
(v) Concreting of Major Roads
Vandiyur -- Melamandai Road Km 0/0--3/6 Kms 3.60 1,080.00
Pasumalai -- Thirunagar Road Km0/0-- 3/6 Kms 3.60 1,080.00
Service Road of Mayor Muthu Bridge at Km 443/8-444/4 of BCC road (Left side & Right Side) Kms 1.00 300.00
Service Road of Muthu Ramalingathevar Bridge at Km 444/4-445/0 of BCC road. Kms 1.20 360.00
Service Road of NMR Subbraman bridge at Km 0/0-0/6 of Madurai -- Tuticorin road Kms 1.20 360.00
Vandiyur -- Melamandai Road to Madurai -- Thondi road (Via) Komathipuram road Km 0/0--1/6 Kms 1.60 480.00
(vi)Junction Improvements with white tapping & Land Scapping
Junction improvements at Km 0/8 of Madurai Natham road near Thammukkam Nos. 1 200.00
Junction improvements at Km 447/4 of Trichy Madurai Road Nos. 1 100.00
Junction improvements at Km 446/0 of Trichy Madurai Road Nos. 1 200.00
Junction improvements at Km 4/0Madurai Melakkal Road Nos. 1 200.00
Junction improvements at Km 441/6 of BCC road Nos. 1 100.00
Junction improvements at Km 8/4 of Madurai Tuticorin Road Nos. 1 200.00
Junction improvements at Km 2/2 of Madurai Tuticorin Road Nos. 1 200.00
(vii)Pedestrian Subway
Km 440/2 of BCC road (Goripalayam) m 300 800.00
East Veli Street 2 Nos. (Km 0/4 & 0/8) m 60 300.00
Near St. Marys School (East Veli Street) m 60 300.00
Km 442/2 (Junction Sakthi Sivam Theatre ) of BCC road m 25 200.00
Km 44/8 of BCC road (Entrance Railway Station) m 25 200.00
Km 442/10 of BCC road (exist Railway Station) m 25 200.00
Yanaikkal Junction (BCC road Km 442/2) m 10 600.00
Trichy Madurai Road Km 448/8 (Near Court) m 50 300.00
BCC road Km 443/2 (Near Periyar Bus Stand) m 100 600.00
Madurai Cochin Road Km 5/2 m 300 800.00
Km 1/2 of Madurai --Natham Road (Near Thallaklulam Perumal koil) m 50 300.00
Km 0/8 of Madurai Natham Road (Near Post office) m 200 700.00
Km 1/4 of Madurai Natham Road (Near Periyar Status) m 100 600.00
Km 446/8 of Trichy Madurai Road (Near Mattuthavani Bus Stand) m 150 650.00
(viii)Elevated Highways
East Veli Street connecting St.Marys School,Anna Statue -- Simmakkal -- Sethupathi School Kms 3.80 12,000.00
BCC Road connecting -- Anna Bus Stand -- Goripalayam --Thallakulam -- Pudur Kms 2.00 6,000.00
Madurai Natham connecting -- Goripalayam --Thallakulam -- Pudur Kms 3.00 9,000.00
BCC Road connecting Railway School -- Kattabomman Statue --Periyar Bus Stand to Muthu Bridge. Kms 0.60 2,000.00
Madurai Cochin Road Km 3/6 --5/8 Kms 2.20 7,000.00
NH Byepass Km 437/0 --439/8 (urban limit) Kms 2.80 8,400.00
NH 7 Km 0/0-2/0 (From Palanganatham -- Pasumalai) Kms 2.00 6,000.00
(ix) Bus Shelters
Thallakulam Bus Stop at Km 0/10 of Madurai --Natham road Kms 1.00 200.00
Bus lay bye at Km 118/4 of NH 45 near Highcourt Kms 1.00 350.00
(x) Utility Duct and Storm Water Drains
Construction of Strom Water Drain from Km 444/2-444/8 of BCC Road m 600.00 36.00
Construction of Strom Water Drain from Km 436/2-437/6 of BCC Road m 1400.00 84.00
Construction of Strom Water Drain from Km 445/0-445/6. m 510.00 31.00
Madurai Cochin Road Km 3/4 - 5/2 m 2200.00 140.00
Madurai Tuticorin Road Km 0/62/2( Left & Right) m 2400.00 150.00
Providing Pucca Drain from Km 441/4 -- 443/0 m 1600.00 100.00
(xi)ROB
Providing ROB at Km 0/2 of Thirupparankundram Town Road
Providing ROB at Km 1/4 of Thirupparankundram Town Road
ROB branching from Km 0/4 of NH 7 and Leading to TVS Nagar & Palanganathan Bus Stand
ROB branching from Km 0/2 of Madurai Viradhanur -- Valayankulam Road ( Chindamani)
(xii) Flyovers
IRR-Aruppukotai Road Crossing
IRR-Nedungalam Road Crossing
IRR-Rameswaram Road Crossing
IRR-Sivaganga Road Crossing
IRR-Melur Road Crossing (Near Grain Market)
IRR-Alagarkoil Road Crossing
IRR-Natham Road Crossing
IRR-Dindigul Road-Rail Crossing

This would be the perfect time to start and speedup the implementation of projects under JNNURM. With the Mdu corporation in the hands of the ruling party at the state which has nearly 5 yr tenure and with its ally congress at the center which has 3 more yrs left. With good co-ordination possible on three levels i hope they complete these projects well ahead of the 7 year deadline.

There information about JNHUM is confusing, because there are various moves by State Govt, ring roads, other road projects, modernisation of transport, bridges, water project and all, to project Madurai as Tourism hub. Which are the moves inside the JNHUM is not clear.

Same with Airport expansion but with another view, sometimes they say that the airport is expansion is done for the International airport target, and sometimes they say its for non-metro modernisation.

They give different names and show the same work! Am i exgerating the situation?

Your concerns are true. Most of the projects are the same. They call it differently at different times. If some project is going to be implemented in the near future, then alliance parties make the same as demands and the central government announces that they are doing it on the request of the alliance parties or state government etc.,

With regards to JNNURM, its going to be a 7 years thing. As far as Madurai is concerned, only a few projects are there in the first couple of years. Most of the elevated highway projects ( however smaller it may be) are in the later phase, if I remember correctly. The Vaigai water project(2nd phase) and a few other projects are there for the first 2 years.

The airport, railways(excluding ROB) projects doesn't figure under JNNURM. News about Madurai airport upgradation is always misleading. It looks like the Air side work is completed. But, city side developments has ZERO progress I think which means there won't be much scope for new domestic or international flights. Hope the recent speech by PM helps in getting the approval for city side developments.

Corporation to beautify city with fountains and parks

The city is all set to get a well-groomed look with 22 artificial fountains to be made functional in a year, along with 29 parks, at an estimated cost of Rs.2.4 crore. A proposal has been sent to the Government.

"The exercise to set up the fountains was taken up in 1999 as part of a beautification drive and has been continuing since then. It is mainly to please motorcyclists waiting at signals," said D.J. Dinakkaren, Corporation Commissioner.

The fountains and the traffic islands were being provided at important junctions and bus routes, said K. Sakthivel, Superintending Engineer of the Corporation. He added that the urban body had sufficient water to operate the 22 fountains.

Presently, there are eight fountains, erected at a cost of Rs.26 lakh, of which five are functioning. Of the five, the maintenance of three is being taken care of by the Corporation, and the rest by private firms.

"The private firms pay the electricity charges themselves and they've put up advertisements at the parks," Mr. Sakthivel said.

Time schedule

The fountains must be operated from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. If the private parties did not meet the conditions, their contract would be cancelled.

"The Corporation has cancelled contracts awarded to private parties for maintaining parks whenever they failed to adhere to conditions," he said.

The Assistant Engineers of the respective wards should keep an eye on these fountains and they would report any irregularities in their functioning. Action would be taken on the basis of their complaints, Mr. Sakthivel said.

The five places, where the fountains are functional, are Thavittu Sandhai, near South Zone Office, Simmakkal Island, near District Court and Yanaikkal.

The remaining places are Theni Road-New Jail Road Junction at Arasaradi, Tirupparankundram Road Junction, Railway Junction, Kattabomman Statue, North Veli-Vakkil New Street Junction, V.O.C. Statue Junction, Ashok Pillar (Alagarkovil Road), Bharathiar Park, Anna Bus Stand Junction, Uzhavar Sandhai (Anna Nagar), Indian Oil Corporation Circle, Teppakkulam Junction, Kamarajar Statue, Anna Statue, Brown Market, Thulasiram Park and Kulamangalam Road.http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/06/stories/2006110617810300.htm

Honeywell Building nearing completion, Thiruparamkundram, Madurai

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/2074/honeywellmaduraihd9.jpg

Dear MaduraiVeeran,
Nice picture. Where did you get this one from? It is looking better than what I expected.
The other news about fountains is good. Even if the fountains work only during certain hours, atleast the landscaping should give a pleasing feeling for the city which it needs.

Dear MaduraiVeeran,
Nice picture. Where did you get this one from? It is looking better than what I expected.
The other news about fountains is good. Even if the fountains work only during certain hours, atleast the landscaping should give a pleasing feeling for the city which it needs.

photo: kamala L, www.flickr.com

Thanx madurai. This is the second and the new of the two buildings currently used by Honeywell. By now the Honeywell building must have been completed. Please look for more fotos i have added in Madurai views under city folder.

Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centres (CBCC) based in Bakersfield, California plans to setup Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centre in Madurai

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss announced a number of measures at the inauguration ceremony of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centre set up at the Apollo Hospital in Ahmedabad today. The Cancer Centre has been built with the help of the parent company, Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centres (CBCC) based in Bakersfield, California with the intention of providing ultra-modern facilities for cancer patients. The Centre will house South Asia’s first Image Guided Radiation Therapy Linear Accelerator for the treatment of Cancer.

Ravi Patel, Chairman of the CBCC said, “We want to give a soothing and calm environment for all our patients. The service standards are same what they will be getting in our centre in US.” Patel added that CBCC also has plans for India in the southern belt where there are plans to set up another project in Madurai.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=208521

Here is the news in Tamil.

http://www.dinamani.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=DND20061106211856&Title=Districts+Page&lTitle=U%F4YhPeLs&Topic=0

43 A/c Rooms
Majestic Hall which can seat 200 people.
Classic Hall which can seat 75 people.

As per the following news in Tamil, TN government has approved a Dental College in Madurai. Though this has been in the news sometime back, I didnt see any recent news on it until this one.

http://www.dinamani.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=DND20061106211842&Title=Districts+Page&lTitle=U%F4YhPeLs&Topic=0

Hope this news is true.

The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu has approved road repair works in Tamil Nadu at a total cost of Rs. 673.37 lakh.

Repair work on MKU-Karumathur and Karumathur-Pottalpatti stretches

An amount of Rs. 254.06 lakh has been sanctioned for Special Repair Works from km 16/0 to km 25/0 of NH 49 extn. (Madurai kamarajar University-Karumathur in Madurai District). Similarly, an amount of Rs. 419.31 lakh has also been approved for Improvement of Riding Quality from km 25/00 to km 35/00 of NH-49 Ext (Karumathur-Pottalpatti in Madurai District) in the State.

NH-49 Extension is an important road with very high density traffic which connects the Temple city of Madurai and Harbour city of Cochin. This road also connects the historical and holy place of Rameswaram. The two stretches for which the repair works have been sanctioned, are badly damaged due to the formation of pot holes and cracks. Hence, immediate improvement in the riding surface was considered necessary.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=21789

Joint secretary, Union Department of Urban development, met with the city officials to discuss the schemes to be implemented under JNNURM

Urban Development Schemes costing Rs.1477 Crore would be implemented in Madurai City in the next seven years, M. Rajamani, Joint secretary, Union Department of Urban development, said today.

He was talking to newsmen here after a meeting with the City Mayor G. Thenmozhi, City Corporation Commissioner D.J. Dinakaren after discussing the schemes to be implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Development Scheme today.

He said 63 cities including Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai had been selected for implementation of the JNUDS at a cost of Rs.55000 crore. He said 70 Per cent of the people lived in urban areas in the state, and if the urban areas were not developed, the Country would not develop.

He said Madurai was among the city corporations to receive the money. The schemes would also help the Corporations earn more revenue.

http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7BCDFF30A5-07D2-4566-84DF-8747C18623BA%7D&CATEGORYNAME=TAMNA

photo: kamala L, www.flickr.com

Thanx madurai. This is the second and the new of the two buildings currently used by Honeywell. By now the Honeywell building must have been completed. Please look for more fotos i have added in Madurai views under city folder.

Thanks MaduraiVeeran. Can you post the other picture also here. I couldn't find it in the Cityscapes folder also.

I meant the other pictures of Madurai and not the honeywell building. The pictures of Madurai views can be viewed at the following link,

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=10369906#post10369906

Schemes to be implemented include second phase of ring road

MADURAI: The Corporation will appoint consultants for different urban development schemes by December 2006, according to Corporation Commissioner D.J. Dhinakkaren.

Briefing presspersons here on Tuesday after a review meeting with councillors, he said that consultants had been identified for four projects :

1. Solid waste management
2. Storm water drainage and improved draining facilities in major channels
3. Road projects
4. Phase III of underground sewerage.

The other projects are traffic improvement, facilities for the poor, wastewater treatment and recycling of sewerage, preserving heritage structures, shifting of central market, multi-level parking lot and e-governance.

Under traffic improvement programme, road over-bridges, subways and elevated highways would be constructed in congested areas. Radial roads and second phase of ring road covering Uthangudi, Dindigul highway, the Vaigai and Thatchampatthu would be taken up.

Efforts would be made to provide sanitation and shelter to slum dwellers. All these projects would be implemented with major financial assistance from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, a scheme of the Union Ministry of Urban Development. The Corporation had received approval for allocation of Rs.1477.50 crore to implement the projects.

Second pipeline

In the first phase, the local body got administrative sanction for laying a second pipeline to bring drinking water from the Vaigai dam to the city at a cost of Rs.59 crore. It was awaiting technical sanction.

M. Rajamani, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development, addressed the review meeting. emphasised the need for concerted efforts from public representatives, officials and general public for successful implementation of urban development projects.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/08/stories/2006110818130300.htm


Pat for Madurai Corporation

Expressing happiness over the progress made by the Madurai Corporation in getting funds sanctioned for laying a second pipeline to bring Vaigai water to the city, M. Rajamani, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development said Coimbatore and Chennai were yet to react.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/08/stories/2006110804250500.htm

Palanganatham ROB project at Rs.30 crores. Work will start from April 2007. This is going to be 1145M bridge with 6 arms. This is part of the JNNURM too.

http://epaper.dinamalar.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=08_11_2006_103_016&typ=1&pub=356

More info with respect to the above news. The bridge would have a span of 12 meters. The 6 arms of the bridge would be in such a way that it connects to jaihindhipuram, thirunelveli road, TVS nagar, palanganatham, central bus stand(periyar) and bye pass road. At present technical consultants are working on the project which would take 3 months and hence the project would commense from April 2007. The project has been slated to be completed in 2years. A ROB near TCE will also be taken up soon.

MADURAI: The Union Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, will flag off the Madurai-Manmad (weekly) inaugural special train here on Thursday.

The 6733 Madurai-Manmad Express that will be flagged off here on Thursday at 4 p.m. will reach Manmad at 3.30 a.m. on Saturday.

However, the timings of the train scheduled to commence operations with effect from November 11 and November 16 (from Manmad and Madurai respectively) are as follows: It will leave Madurai at 11.45 p.m. on Thursdays and reach Manmad at 1.10 p.m. on Saturdays. The trainwill leave Manmad at 9.40 p.m. on all Saturdays.



http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/09/stories/2006110914040300.htm

Exclusive trauma care ward to be established in Madurai at a cost of Rs. 15 crore

Minister for Health, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran said that the foundation stone for an exclusive trauma care ward, to be established near the Anna bus Stand here at a cost of Rs. 15 crore, would be laid soon.

Proposal forwarded for establishment of an AIIMS centre in Madurai

Mr. Ramachandran said that a proposal has been forwarded for establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Science centre, spread across 100 acres at a cost of Rs.100 crore, at Thoppur. Mr. Ramachandran said that Rs.5 lakh would be allocated to a new committee, which would be set up in all districts to look after the development and maintenance of the hospital.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/09/stories/2006110920430300.htm

Proposal forwarded for establishment of an AIIMS centre in Madurai

Mr. Ramachandran said that a proposal has been forwarded for establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Science centre, spread across 100 acres at a cost of Rs.100 crore, at Thoppur. Mr. Ramachandran said that Rs.5 lakh would be allocated to a new committee, which would be set up in all districts to look after the development and maintenance of the hospital.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/09/stories/2006110920430300.htm

This AIIMS project is passing from city to city :lol: . It all started in Madurai, then the plan was shifted to Trichy and then to Salem :nuts: . Finally it seems its back to where it had started. I hope this time its for real and Mr. Ramachandran is serious in his statement. If this too was an eyewash then certainly people of Madurai have to revolt against it. Its all happening because of silly politics :bash: .

KKSSR promised a Rs.120 cr hospital at Thoppur. Now this report says that a proposal has been sent for establishing AIIMS. Madurai can very well forget this hospital. I am fed up with how this has been treated by our politicians.

As per the Tamil Daily Dinakaran, AIIMS type hospital to be built at Thoppur near Tirunagar using Government Land. This year 100 crores have been allotted to Salem. He and his government is request Union Health Minister Anbumani to allocate 100 crores for the Madurai Hospital.

Anna Bus Stand facility is going to be used for building a 6 stories hospital with 3 lifts and modern operation theater facilities. Foundation stone will be laid soon.

He mentioned these and other things during his visit to GRH recently.

Hyundai motors assurance to CM:)

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said that the Hyundai Motors have assured that like the 100 cars they had given to the city police,the police force in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Tirunelveli would be provided with a similar number of cars.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200611091422.htm

Axia Group Inc. Begins New Construction Project in Madurai

SAN DIEGO, Axia Group, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with Swift Services, an Indian company, to begin building homes in India, its first project in that country. The contract calls for Axia to build a model home in the city of Madurai. The costs of the model home, which is estimated to be about $8,000.00 US(Rs. 3,60,000 Approx), will be born by Swift. Once the model home construction has met the approval of Swift, the Indian company has indicated its intention to use this technology in its plans to build health centers, apartment units and office buildings.

Stated Jeffrey Flannery, CEO of Axia Group, Inc. "We are excited to be given this opportunity to demonstrate our technology and our technical know-how in India. This represents a very large potential market for our technology.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061109/lath095.html?.v=67

MADURAI: The Chennai Central railway station will be among 16 major destinations in the country that would be modernized on a par with worldclass standards, the Union Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, has said.

"It has been agreed upon in principle to give a facelift to these stations. Passenger amenities would be similar to those available in places such as London. The idea is to bring all facilities, including shopping malls, under one roof. The budget requirement for this project is being worked out," he told journalists here on Thursday.

Mr. Velu said a silent revolution was on in the State with regard to development of railways. The 1,800-km stretch of meter gauge was gradually brought down to 324 kms. "We hope to establish uni-gauge rail network in Tamil Nadu in the next few years. Patch doubling works are underway in many sections. Efforts are also on to create a double line with electrification between Tirunelveli and Chengalpattu at the earliest. The gauge conversion works upto Rameswaram would be completed by March 2007."

Earlier, speaking before flagging off the Madurai-Manmad (Weekly) inaugural special train, he said the manufacturing capacity of the two coach factories at Chennai and Kapurthala had been increased from 1,000 to 1,500 coaches per year. "This will help in increasing the frequency of weekly trains that are patronized well."

Despite social obligations and burden owing to the increase in the price of fuel, the railways had performed well in the last two years. The profit by the end of the current fiscal was expected to touch Rs. 20,000 crores. "This is a golden period for the railways that is seeing growth on all fronts", he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Madurai MP, P. Mohan, said the Madurai-Manmad train should be made a bi-weekly as it was bound to evoke a good response from passengers. The Madurai-Villuppuram passenger should be made a day train and extended upto Chennai. Shuttle trains (DEMUs) should be introduced between Madurai and Virudhunagar. Steps should be taken to include Tuticorin in the exclusive freight corridor project, he said.

The MP (Rajya Sabha), R. Shanmugasundaram said the railways should enhance facilities and operations in Madurai as it was emerging a hub of activity in the backdrop of major projects such as Nanguneri Special Economic Zone, Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, and Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project coming up in the southern districts.

The MLAs, N. Nanmaran (Madurai East) and S.V. Shanmugam (Madurai Central), the Divisional Railway Manager, Hemant Kumar, and the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, M. Suyambulingam, spoke.



http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/10/stories/2006111020090300.htm

Link to news..... (http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/10/stories/2006111020050300.htm)

Good to see them hiring +2 passouts and diploma holders for this kind of jobs, rather than hiring Bcom and Bsc grads and wasting India's talent base.


MADURAI: Aniruddha Technology Services will hold a medical transcription recruitment drive in the city on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, B.M. Balamurugesan, director, said that an aptitude test would he held in the Tamil Nadu Polytechnic College on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The candidates could walk in to the tests any time during the day and no registration fee would be charged, he said.

"Standard XII and diploma holders are also eligible to participate in this test. The only criterion needed is good writing skills in English language. Even if they are not able to speak English, it will not be a problem," Mr. Balamurugesan said.

He said that while the company required about 500 people to work in medical transcriptions in southern Tamil Nadu.

The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu has approved Road Improvement Works from km 27/00 to km 44/00 and construction of paved shoulders from km 62/0 to km 64/00 and km 69/0 to 70/4 at Vathalagundu-Periakulam-Theni in Tamil Nadu at a total cost of Rs. 605.09 lakh.

The Minister has sanctioned Improvement of Riding Quality from km 27/00 to km 44/00 of the above stretch at cost of Rs. 497.76 lakhs. Similarly, approval has been given for the construction of paved shoulders from km 62/0 to km 64/00 and km 69/0 to 70/4 of NH 45-Extn at a cost of Rs. 107.33 lakh.

The NH-45 Extn. (Dindigul – Theni Section) is the recently declared National Highway and is having lot of stray patches, cracks due to heavy traffic movement. The worn-out stretch serves as a link between important National Highways NH-7 and NH-49 Extn (Madurai to TN/Kerala Border). This is of tourist importance and traffic is quite high. Therefore, it was found necessary to improve the riding quality of this stretch.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=21894

Union Minister of state for Railways R Velu's reply for bullet train projects

The state government had sought bullet train services between Chennai and Coimbatore and Chennai and Madurai. Union Minister of state for Railways R Velu said that the cost involved in such a project was "exhorbitant" and a similar proposal between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is estimated to cost Rs 18,000 crore. An elevated corridor is required before such trains can be introduced.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1063319

Why is the TN government pushing for impossible projects when many important projects like the doubling of Madurai-Dindigul section and electrification of Madurai-Chengalpattu sections are yet to be finished.

Southern Railway to take up track doubling next year

Southern Railway will take up the doubling work on the Villupuram-Tiruchi, Dindigul-Madurai and Coimbatore-Irgur broad gauge sections in the next financial year.

Giving details of new projects to be taken up by Southern Railway in the next financial year here on Friday, Union Minister of State for Railways R.Velu said his ministry planned to complete the doubling work between Villupuram and Tindivanam, Dindigul to Kodaikanal Road, Coimbatore to Irgur and patch doubling from Vriddhachalam to Ariyalur by March 2008.

In addition to the above works, Southern Railway would complete the conversion of Vellore-Tiruvannamalai, Karaikudi-Manamadurai and Virudhunagar-Manamadurai metre gauge lines before the next financial year.

The Minister, who reviewed the progress of on-going schemes in Southern Railway with senior officials, said conversion of Tiruchi-Pudukottai line would be over by December this year and the stretch from Pudukottai to Karaikudi and Manamadurai to Rameswaram would be completed before the end of the current financial year. In the next financial year Karaikudi-Manamadurai line would be taken up for conversion.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/11/stories/2006111105510400.htm

Tender floated for “Rail Ratna” brand of hotel on railway land in Madurai

Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation P K Goel said that tenders have been floated for construction or renovation of hotels in Madurai, Vijayawada, Secunderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Tirupati, Kanya-kumari, Rameshwaram, Ooty, Nagpur, New Jalpaiguri, Agra, Pune, Darjeeling, Habibganj (Bhopal), Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Sealdah and Lalgarh (Bikaner).

“IRCTC has invited bids from reputed firms incorporated/registered in India and engaged in operation and maintenance of at least two-star hotel with offering food facility. “These bids are for developing, operating and maintaining “Rail Ratna” brand of hotels on license basis for a period of 30 years.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=146269

Why is the TN government pushing for impossible projects when many important projects like the doubling of Madurai-Dindigul section and electrification of Madurai-Chengalpattu sections are yet to be finished.


Karunanidhi's letter is just for the press and Government filings. Later if someone brings that project, he would come out and say, I have talked about this and sent a letter in the year 1806. So that he or DMK can claim credit for this project when this comes to reality in the the year 2050.
this may be the reason:lol:

Tender floated for “Rail Ratna” brand of hotel on railway land in Madurai

Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation P K Goel said that tenders have been floated for construction or renovation of hotels in Madurai, Vijayawada, Secunderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Tirupati, Kanya-kumari, Rameshwaram, Ooty, Nagpur, New Jalpaiguri, Agra, Pune, Darjeeling, Habibganj (Bhopal), Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Sealdah and Lalgarh (Bikaner).

“IRCTC has invited bids from reputed firms incorporated/registered in India and engaged in operation and maintenance of at least two-star hotel with offering food facility. “These bids are for developing, operating and maintaining “Rail Ratna” brand of hotels on license basis for a period of 30 years.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=146269

Instead of creating a new hotel for Railways, it will be nice if they modernise the 'Mangamal Sathiram'. It is a historical monument just opposite to the Railway station and still being used as a Sathiram or short stay resting place. This could turn into a tourist spot as well.

Instead of creating a new hotel for Railways, it will be nice if they modernise the 'Mangamal Sathiram'. It is a historical monument just opposite to the Railway station and still being used as a Sathiram or short stay resting place. This could turn into a tourist spot as well.

To my knowledge Mangammal chathiram is no more a chathiram it has been converted into a tax collection center belonging to the corporation. With so much middle and upper middle class tourists coming to the temple city, a new 2 or 3 star hotel will be a boon for them.

Southern Railway to take up track doubling next year

Southern Railway will take up the doubling work on the Villupuram-Tiruchi, Dindigul-Madurai and Coimbatore-Irgur broad gauge sections in the next financial year.

Giving details of new projects to be taken up by Southern Railway in the next financial year here on Friday, Union Minister of State for Railways R.Velu said his ministry planned to complete the doubling work between Villupuram and Tindivanam, Dindigul to Kodaikanal Road, Coimbatore to Irgur and patch doubling from Vriddhachalam to Ariyalur by March 2008.

................
http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/11/stories/2006111105510400.htm

Either the concerned people involved with the Madurai-Dindigul doubling are idiots and fools or they are making the people fools. This project is lingering forever and now they are saying that Dindigul-Kodai Road will be completed by Mar 2008. What about Madurai-Kodai Road? I hope some public litigation is made on this project and send the concerned people behind bars.

By increasing the no of trains and improving the train services, the omni bus lobby in TN will be hit below the belt.

That answers most of the unanswered questions.

By increasing the no of trains and improving the train services, the omni bus lobby in TN will be hit below the belt.

That answers most of the unanswered questions.

Is the omni bus lobby such a big and powerful force?.

TN has been neglected for many decades in terms of railway infrastructure. When many states in india have 100% broad gauge lines, TN still has the max % of metre gauge lines. I hope in the near future TN gets the railway minister post :) so that we can see development as we see now in IT and communication field with Maran.

Is the omni bus lobby such a big and powerful force?.

TN has been neglected for many decades in terms of railway infrastructure. When many states in india have 100% broad gauge lines, TN still has the max % of metre gauge lines. I hope in the near future TN gets the railway minister post :) so that we can see development as we see now in IT and communication field with Maran.
Though neglected, TN railways is one of the cleanest, or may be the cleanest, in India.

I hope in the near future TN gets the railway minister post :) so that we can see development as we see now in IT and communication field with Maran.

^^ Better than that - allow private trains to ply along with the govt trains!

I think the time has riped for setting up the the Aviation University at Madurai.

Jaya's wrote to PM on 7th Aug 2005:
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms Jayalalitha has said that the US Secretary of Transport recently discussed with Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission Chairman V S Arunachalam, the proposal to set up an aviation university with the support of the US Federal Aviation Authority at Madurai. Ms Jayalalitha said: “The idea of establishing such a university needs to be developed in co-operation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation”.

Ministry of Civil Aviation signed MoU with FAA on 13th Nov 2006:
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday signed a memorandum of agreement with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) that provides for assistance by the latter to the civil aviation sector here in developing and modernising infrastructure in the managerial, operation and technical areas

Helicopter service

The Tamil Nadu Government proposed to start a helicopter service from Madurai to Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal and Udhagmndalam to attract foreign tourists, Tourism Development Minister Suresh Rajan said on Monday.

Cable Car service

Speaking to reporters here, he said there were plans to provide cable car facilities at these three places at a cost of Rs 45 crore.

TTDC Hotel development

Steps would also be taken to develop hotels of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation at Madurai, Kanyakumari, Thanjavur, Mahabalipuram and Nagapattinam.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200611140310.htm

I think the time has riped for setting up the the Aviation University at Madurai.

Jaya's wrote to PM on 7th Aug 2005:


Ministry of Civil Aviation signed MoU with FAA on 13th Nov 2006:

Hi Anniyan,
Where did you get the information from? Does it say that the Aviation University is being planned at Madurai? I doubt if it will happen, mainly for 2 reason. One is that the proposal came from ADMK government. The second thing is that Praful Patel wants to have one such facility in his native, Nagpur as per reports.

The government on Monday signed an agreement with the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to help it develop and modernise its nascent but booming aviation sector.

FAA assistance will include technical and managerial expertise in developing civil aviation infrastructure, standards, procedures, policies, and training and equipment, a government statement said.

It would also help in the inspection and calibration of aviation equipment and air navigation facilities, and in the certification of Indian airports.

"This agreement is an essential requirement for seeking/ receiving assistance from the FAA," the statement said.

Union cabinet approved the agreement in May.

The above report is more general. But one thing clear is, US is going to provide equipment training and Managerial expertise. This could also mean the aviation university. But we have to wait a little longer until more information comes to light.

Hi Anniyan,
Where did you get the information from? Does it say that the Aviation University is being planned at Madurai? I doubt if it will happen, mainly for 2 reason. One is that the proposal came from ADMK government. The second thing is that Praful Patel wants to have one such facility in his native, Nagpur as per reports.

It's just my thought. I agree with your fears. Let us keep fingers crossed and hope we hear good news soon.

Divisional Railway Manager, Hemant Kumar, said that the Madurai-Dindigul meter gauge section would be closed next year for gauge conversion. Works for the construction of a new bridge across the Vaigai as part of the Madurai-Dindigul BG doubling project had commenced. The Virudhunagar-Aruppukottai-Manamadurai conversion work was likely to be taken up soon.

The Madurai-Rameswaram BG line was expected to be ready by March. The gauge conversion of Pamban bridge was progressing satisfactorily.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111510380100.htm

CHENNAI: The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited will shortly float tenders for the development of information technology parks in Tier-II cities such as Madurai, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Hosur and Salem, according to ELCOT Managing Director C. Umashankar.

In Madurai, IT parks had been proposed in two areas — Ilandaikulam and Vadapalanji. While 50 acres had been earmarked for the first site, 257 acres had been allocated for the second. At Vadapalanji, 36 acres had been earmarked for housing for the workforce. Each of the parks in these cities would have one million square feet. Mr. Umashankar told an interactive session organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a prelude to a three-day conference to be held in Madurai, from December 1 to 3, on the economic development of southern districts.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111517590800.htm

Mr. Umashankar told an interactive session organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a prelude to a three-day conference to be held in Madurai, from December 1 to 3, on the economic development of southern districts.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111517590800.htm

Looks like CII and ELCOT are taking the SPEED 2006 conference on the economic development of southern districts to be held in Madurai seriously. I hope they make some announcement during the conference regarding the IT parks and other developments to be undertaken at Madurai and southern districts. This could be the best chance for pushing forward the development of this region.

C Umashankar, managing director of ELCOT said that “In Madurai, We have identified 50 acres in Chinna Illanthukudi and another 257 acres at Vadapalani village in front of Madurai Kamaraj University,” he said adding that the project would be a Knowledge Industrial Township (KIT), which will have housing, school hospital and other facilities, thus offering a ‘walk to work’ environment.

Tamil Nadu Government would be promoting Tidel Parks on the lines of the one in Chennai, in all the Tier-2 towns to take the IT boom to the emerging cities also. Dr C Chandramouli, IT Secretary of Tamil Nadu, said that the parks would be promoted through private-public partnership (PPP) model and would be completed in the next 12-14 months.

http://www.ciol.com/content/news/Investment/2006/106111501.asp

Does anybody know where is Ilandaikulam? Is it same place near Kochadai ?
Vadapalanji is just opposite to MKU...

CHENNAI: The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited will shortly float tenders for the development of information technology parks in Tier-II cities such as Madurai, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Hosur and Salem, according to ELCOT Managing Director C. Umashankar.

In Madurai, IT parks had been proposed in two areas — Ilandaikulam and Vadapalanji. While 50 acres had been earmarked for the first site, 257 acres had been allocated for the second. At Vadapalanji, 36 acres had been earmarked for housing for the workforce. Each of the parks in these cities would have one million square feet. Mr. Umashankar told an interactive session organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a prelude to a three-day conference to be held in Madurai, from December 1 to 3, on the economic development of southern districts.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111517590800.htm

My guess is that Ilandaikulam is near Mattuthavani as an IT Park was being planned there for 50 acres or so.
Hope the SPEED 2006 kick starts some positive IT activity in this region.

Joins hands with CII to organize exposition-cum-conference at Madurai

CHENNAI: In a bid to project Madurai as the next IT destination after Coimbatore, the Tamil Nadu Government has tied-up with the Confederation of Indian Industry –Southern Region (CII-SR), to organize a unique exposition-cum-conference called SPEED (Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development).

The three-day event to be held at Madurai from December 1, 2006 will be an interactive and demonstrative exhibition, along with a two-day conference and a buyer-seller meet. The main focus of the event would be to promote Madurai and other Southern Districts, as the next IT destination in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing the media, R Dinesh, executive director of TVS & Sons, and co-chairperson of SPEED 2006, said that the objectives of the event are to quantify and to project the strengths of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by creating hubs, satellites and corridors with the focus on emerging sectors, apart from education, food processing, textiles, health care services and tourism sectors.

“The southern districts contribute over 19 per cent of the GSDP, have already attracted infrastructure investments of over Rs 33,000 crore. Since the region is abundant with skilled manpower, the region will continue to attract fresh investment in infrastructure and the manufacturing sector, which has the potential to create 80,000 new jobs in the next three years,” he said.

“SPEED would harness new investment initiatives and business opportunities for the southern districts of Madurai, Sivagangai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari; initiate new innovative ideas; create platform for partnership and networking opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship among students,” Dinesh said.

CII has proposed a strategy to create a manufacturing hub in Madurai and satellite hubs at Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, an export-cum-services hub at Thoothukudi, knowledge corridors at Madurai, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli, and tourism corridors at Madurai, Karaikudi, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari.

Dinesh said the conference would discuss services & IT excellence in SPEED, opportunities in IT/ITES, educational infrastructure and competitiveness in southern Tamil Nadu, opportunities in automotive/textiles/food processing, key trends and opportunities in health Tourism, destinations in Southern Tamil Nadu and connectivity issues, among others.

“A Skills Training Institute is also proposed to be set up in Madurai to promote soft skills for diploma-holders in particular, which would help improve employability and higher levels of jobs,” Dinesh added.


http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2006/106111502.asp

S. Vijay Kumar

The proposed centre will cater to the needs of patients in southern districts


MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, U.S., will come together to establish a world-class facility for comprehensive health care management of HIV/AIDS in Madurai.

The TANSACS Project Director, Supriya Sahu, and the CDC representative for South India, Michael Friedman, inspected a few sites for the proposed `Centre for Excellence' here on Friday.

Talking to The Hindu , Ms. Sahu said the centre would provide high-quality diagnostic services, in-patient care and counselling.

Tambaram model


"It will be similar to the Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram, which is the largest care-provider for HIV/AIDS in south-east Asia.

The Centre for Excellence will have a state-of-the-art laboratory and provide Anti Retro-Viral Treatment (ART)."

At least 60 per cent of the 30,000 patients at Tambaram Hospital hail from Tamil Nadu. Namakkal and its adjoining areas remained high-risk districts.

"The Madurai facility will cater to the needs of patients in southern districts," she added.

Dr. Michael Freidman said the CDC would offer support for the establishing the infrastructure.

"Based on our earlier experience, we hope to be an active partner," he said.

Collector T. Udhayachandran and the Government Rajaji Hospital Dean, S.M. Siva Kumar, accompanied the team that visited vacant sites at the GRH, Madurai Medical College and Anna Bus Stand, among other places.

The district administration would send its recommendations to the Government for allotting land, official sources said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/18/stories/2006111814350100.htm

I forgot to give this link in my report on connect 2006.

It may be useful for the forumers.

http://www.connect2006.in/PPTS/DRChandramouli.pdf

S. Vijay Kumar

The proposed centre will cater to the needs of patients in southern districts
http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/18/stories/2006111814350100.htm
Indian Aids/HIV figures look like its higher in TN, because it is the only place in India with successful diagnostic and treatment hospitals, one of the kind and the biggest in S Asia. Therefore AIDS/HIV infected patients around the country move to Chennai to the rest of their life.
TN leads India to fight the social stigma towards the disease and TN Govt. role is good and hopefully will do more. Madurai hospital facility will be one more mile stone. Nowhere in the country there exist such a medical infrastrucutre with reference to HIV/AIDS.
Matter of fact, Tambaram sanitorium, Chennai is seen as one of the most successful HIV/AIDS treatment center by UN. When I visited S.Africa (largest AIDS incidence in the world), they had known Chennai for treatment and medical supply.

Madurai,

Sorry to digress, really is it true than TN has the highest no of Aids cases in India? If so what are the reasons? Is it due to:
1. More accurarate reporting.
2. People moving from other state.
3. Serious problem with the people.

I doubt it could be because of 2, as TN is one corner of the nation. I thought most of the aids is spread through truck drivers and MH, MP UP should have high prevalent cases because of its central location and majority of trucks passes through them.

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, U.S., will come together to establish a world-class facility for comprehensive health care management of HIV/AIDS in Madurai.

The Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine and the proposed AIIMS model hospital at Madurai could put Madurai among the list of best health care centres in India.

Madurai,

Sorry to digress, really is it true than TN has the highest no of Aids cases in India? If so what are the reasons? Is it due to:
1. More accurarate reporting.
2. People moving from other state.
3. Serious problem with the people.

I doubt it could be because of 2, as TN is one corner of the nation. I thought most of the aids is spread through truck drivers and MH, MP UP should have high prevalent cases because of its central location and majority of trucks passes through them.

I think AIDS awareness and efficient diagnosis are the reason. India's first case of HIV infection was detected by TN docs in 1986 in Ulunderpet.

Tamil Nadu is the only State where the HIV/AIDS growth rate showed a downtrend. The prevalence had come down from one to 0.5 per cent.

C:/MADURAI.JPG

Mani, please upload your image using http://www.imageshack.us/. Then paste the link here.

Thanks madurai veeran,
Here is the link
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5794/maduraich8.jpg

Mani, this being a english forum please refrain from posting pics in Tamil as some may not understand it. Its great that India Today is publishing a magazine highlighting the changing face of Madurai. Instead of posting the cover picture you could have posted on the development projects, future prospects incl exports, and Madurai's way into the IT era dealt with in the magazine. If you have the digital(english) version of this report by India today, please upload those.

Hi Mani,
It will be nice to hear more details about the India Today report. Glad to see some positive news about Madurai in the Cover Page.

According to TNSTC sources, the life of a bus as per the Institute of Road Transport (IRT) norms is six years or 7 lakh km. In the Madurai division that caters to the southern districts, the age of at least 60 per cent buses have crossed seven years. Of the 900 city buses here, 140 are more than 12 years old.

The Centre for Indian Trade Unions Madurai district secretary, V. Pitchai, said that operation of old buses was adding to losses as it involved frequent repairs. The Madurai division alone was incurring a loss of Rs. 9 crore every month.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/20/stories/2006112014560700.htm

Why not privatise Chennai and Madurai city bus service in lines of Trichy and CBE. If not government must add new busses like the ones proposed for chennai. Its really shocking to know the loss they incur because of improper maintainance.

Madurai Veeran,
I guess, it's better to have the city bus services by the government itself. They need to provide better buses, I agree on that. Having Government owned city buses give a better feel about the City rather than private buses. This is my humble opinion.

Sorry, I found the cover image at dinamalar online edition. I didn't have the inner page news. If anyone found please put it here.

TN Chamber of Commerce demands for making Madurai Airport as an international airport, moving Vegetable market from inside the city to outside the city, Connecting the Bridge near Periyar Bus Stand and Muthu Bridge(??) and also for a multi storeyed parking lot at the current vegetable market place.

http://www.dinamani.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=DND20061119232310&Title=Districts+Page&lTitle=U%F4YhPeLs&Topic=0

Though such demands have been coming from various sectors, successive governments have fooled the people by neglecting Madurai airport developments. When the government carrier is interested to fly more to Trichy, what in the world is stopping them from flying to Madurai?

http://epaper.dinamalar.com/Web/Madurai/Article/2006/11/21/104/21_11_2006_104_007.jpg

Plan is made for Rs. 9 crores

View of the skating rink as posted in Dinamalar. Im not sure if this is the real plan:) .

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7950/untitled2jh8.jpg

Main areas where the 9 crore Rs. is to be spent which could help local tourism

1. Indoor skating rink to be constructed at a cost of 1.5 crore Rs.
2. Man made island at the cetre of the lake including deepening the lake at a cost of 5 crore Rs.
3. Small island to be artificially formed at the center of the vandiyur lake to facilitate boat operation.
4. Entire park to be fenced at a cost of 50 lakhs.
5. Park to be developed at a cost of 50 lakhs(pathways, water fountain etc..)
6. Toy train to be operated at a cost of 21 lakhs.
7. Basic amenities at a cost of 15 lakhs.

Land prices have spurted significantly in the city since July. The announcement by the District Administration during the month that it has identified two sites, one in Madurai Kamaraj University campus and the other near Mattuthavani bus stand, for establishing an IT park and a TIDEL Park, respectively, has further added to the momentum. For its part, the Madurai Corporation has identified an area near Kochadai in the outskirts of the city.

Prevailing rate

While the increase is around 30 per cent in general, the sites near Mattuthavani bus stand and Kochadai have risen manifold. Sites that were on offer between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 before July near Mattuthavani bus stand, cost Rs 2 lakh and more and near Kochadai, the quote is Rs 1 lakh and more, according to Mr S. Seetharaman, Managing Director, Visvas Promoters (P) Ltd. Not lagging far behind are flats in apartment blocks with up-country promoters charging a basic price of Rs 2,300 per sq.ft. The local promoters, however, are not able to pitch that high despite an increase in the cost of construction and the spurt in land prices, says Mr A. Chandramouli, Managing Director, Sashwath Constructions (P) Ltd.

Would Madurai go the Coimbatore way?. Even before actually realising the IT projects, the real estate prices have started to soar. The main advantage the tier II cities enjoyed was lower land prices. Will the present senario hurt the prospects of cities like MDU and CBE?. If there isn't matching increase in infrastructure and other facilities, this could send bad signals to investors and companies.

Would Madurai go the Coimbatore way?. Even before actually realising the IT projects, the real estate prices have started to soar. The main advantage the tier II cities enjoyed was lower land prices. Will the present senario hurt the prospects of cities like MDU and CBE?. If there isn't matching increase in infrastructure and other facilities, this could send bad signals to investors and companies.

In the initial stages, there won't be very many companies in a city like Madurai. So, the attrition rate will be very less relatively. So, that will be an advantage for sure for those companies. Also, the real estate rates will be minimal compared to the Metros.
Infrastructure needs to be improved for sure. I am waiting to see some positive developments after SPEED 2006. If there is not much improvement for Madurai and surrounding after SPEED 2006 in terms of IT, there is probably no hope in the future. Politician will announce some paper projects which will be in the news only, but not in reality. Hope SPEED 2006 throws some light into the future of Southern TN.

Prabhatam Buildwell is currently engaged in numerous development projects across the country. Right now, they are involved in management of the existing projects, up-grading them and finally looking at expansion for each individual project.

Prabhatam Buildwell's venture company is called Metcalfe Properties. This independent brand has a 125-acre residential project in Amritsar to its name. At the same time, the acquisition of land in many other cities has been completed. Other cities include Bangalore, Madurai, Bhopal, Dehradun and Indore. Apart from key residential and infrastructure development projects, Prabhatam Buildwell plans to establish investment companies in cooperation with sister concerns. It will also collaborate with other holding companies at different regions and enter into facility management.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/547980.cms

I think AIDS awareness and efficient diagnosis are the reason. India's first case of HIV infection was detected by TN docs in 1986 in Ulunderpet.

Tamil Nadu is the only State where the HIV/AIDS growth rate showed a downtrend. The prevalence had come down from one to 0.5 per cent.

Yes very much true. The movement of patients from other state is a big factor as well, if you check trains to Chennai from Delhi and Calcutta most of them are medical patience for treatment for many different diseases including AIDS/HIV and HepatisB. One of the high risk region of the world for the HIV/AIDS incidence is coastal Andras where there is not a single speciality hospital and most of them move to Chennai rather than to Hyderabad for treatment.
Important thing is, the treatment at Chennai thorasic hospital is world famous for its successful treatment method by intergrating Ayurvedic and Allopatic reteroviral medication. Thought it wont cure the disease it extends the dormant phase of the disease and this treatment has been even recommended by UN for many poor african and developings nations.

Managing director IRCTC PKGoel on Thursday said, "We have already given in-principle approval to the project, the implementation of which should start within six months." Running on the lines of the Place on Wheels, the train would originate from Delhi, and travel to Kiranpur, Kalka, Shimla hills and Patiala.

For low budget tourists, IRCTC is planning a few more Bharat Darshan trains, which are likely to originate from Madurai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. The frequency of the present Bharat Darshan trains will also be increased to six per month from the current two. Goel also said the railways are planning to launch about 12 new value added tour packages for passengers.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=147199

IRCTC's plans with Uppal Group, Kamat Hotels for a three/four star hotel derails. Madurai site up for re-bid

Launched with much fanfare a few months ago, the railway hotel project is facing teething problems with the collapse of the three-way consortium formed with the Mumbai-based Kamat Hotels India, the Delhi-based Uppal Group (Delhi) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) construction arm - Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) - that won the first bids.

The three-way joint venture was to form a hotel company - Uppal Kamat Hotels Consortium - with a mandate to develop railway hotel projects all over the country. The consortium had bagged the projects at Vijaywada and Madurai railway stations and was slated to develop three/four-star properties under a joint venture company in which all partners would hold an equity stake.

P K Goel, managing director of IRCTC, was tight-lipped but revealed that the situation arose due to a misunderstanding between the two companies, Kamat Hotels India and Uppal Group. "They will be debarred for a year from the bidding process and will stand to forfeit the earnest amount. We have incurred a lot of expenditure for this project," he adds.

Currently, nearly 20 sites are up for bidding he says, including the re-bidding for Vijaywada and Madurai. "We have called for tenders and December 6, 7 and 8 are the last dates for receiving bids from interested parties," he adds.

http://www.expresshospitality.com/20061130/market01.shtml

Thanks madurai veeran,
Here is the link
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5794/maduraich8.jpg

Hai if anyone have the english text of the articles, please post in the forum. Anyone has access to the online Indiatoday?

The Days Inn hotel under construction, to be opened in second quarter of 2007

Chennai-based Auromatrix Hotels, the master licensee of Days Inn, has always been selective in expanding the group hotels segment in the country. The group is now planning to expand its operations by adding atleast four more hotels by the end of this year. This synchronises with the growing demand for rooms in the mid market segment where Days Inn and Days Hotel have established themselves.

Three more hotels, at Madurai, Kakinada and Trichy, are under construction and will open in the second quarter of 2007. There are more hotels in the pipeline for the group, which is looking at Lucknow, Indore, Haridwar and Ahmedabad.

http://www.expresshospitality.com/20061130/market14.shtml

Does anyone know where the Days Inn is being built and where the IRCTC has alloted land for a three/four star hotel in Madurai?.

The hospitality industry is surging in Madurai due to increase in both domestic and international tourists and also due to some pro-active government steps.

Nice to see that Days Inn is constructing a hotel in Madurai. What about the Germanus Days Inn? Is that a franchise hotel or just a bogus one? Does anyone know about it? I am also curious to know where these two hotels are being constructed.
I am sure the IRCTC hotel will be near to the Junction.

Nice to see that Days Inn is constructing a hotel in Madurai. What about the Germanus Days Inn? Is that a franchise hotel or just a bogus one? Does anyone know about it? I am also curious to know where these two hotels are being constructed.
I am sure the IRCTC hotel will be near to the Junction.

About Germanus Days Inn, as a family friend, I know little bit about it. Its not bogus, many of my relative and freind had stayed there and its pretty well maintained and very expensive compared to other 3 star hotel in Madurai. It has a leasing-sort of management agreement with Days Inn. The owner Germanus is basically a red brick manufacturer and these days has become a construction desinger.

About Germanus Days Inn, as a family friend, I know little bit about it. Its not bogus, many of my relative and freind had stayed there and its pretty well maintained and very expensive compared to other 3 star hotel in Madurai. It has a leasing-sort of management agreement with Days Inn. The owner Germanus is basically a red brick manufacturer and these days has become a construction desinger.

Thanks Selvam for the clarification. Earlier it was a franchise for some other hotel group. I think it was Best Western. Did the same owner take franchise for that one too? Nice to hear that it's maintained well.

Thanks Selvam for the clarification. Earlier it was a franchise for some other hotel group. I think it was Best Western. Did the same owner take franchise for that one too? Nice to hear that it's maintained well.
I dont know about that, may be I have to ask my family back home about it.

BANGALORE: Ecotourism is the new-found love of overworked advertising, IT and hospitality industry professionals. CB Ramkumar, Tiger Ramesh and Ram Ramachandran, for instance, are professionals who have found their true calling: eco-tourism.

Having worked in advertising industry for 17 years in Dubai, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, CB Ramkumar has set up an eco resort— Our Native Village — in Hessarghatta on the city outskirts. Prior to launching the resort in June 2006, Mr Ramkumar worked with Saatchi & Saatchi in Dubai.

Mr Ramkumar who is the MD of Native Resorts says, “I had 12 acres in Hessarghatta and I wanted to do something completely different. I decided whatever it is, it has to be closest to the land, so I developed a 100% eco-friendly resort. Brand-building experience stood me in good stead.”

He adds, “People told me that the eco-resort was not a commercially viable project, but I felt that it was the right thing to do. My vision is to develop Native Resorts into a first eco-resort chain in the world.” Native Resorts is evaluating destinations like Hampi, Madurai and Andaman & Nicobar islands.

Though no study has been done to estimate the size of eco-tourism market in India, industry experts feel it is around Rs 250 crore. Tiger Ramesh, CEO of Wilderness Resorts, says, "Eco-tourism is registering 35% growth annually in India. It is the fastest growing subset in the tourism industry and is set to become a Rs 1,000 crore industry soon."

He adds, “Tourism will soon become one of the top five industries in the world. Therefore, I thought it was the best time to move in and position yourself in the market. I moved to ecotourism as I saw great potential to build a ecotourism company on a sustainable business model.”

Tiger Ramesh spent 17 years in the IT industry establishing start-ups like Quintant and Bangalore Labs. “After a point challenges in the IT industry become very predictable and repetitive as most IT firms have the same set of service offerings.

However, my learning in the IT industry has come very handy in setting up Wilderness Resorts particularly principles like corporate governance, transparency and delivering quality service to global customers,” says Mr Ramesh.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/563971.cms

About Germanus Days Inn, as a family friend, I know little bit about it. Its not bogus, many of my relative and freind had stayed there and its pretty well maintained and very expensive compared to other 3 star hotel in Madurai. It has a leasing-sort of management agreement with Days Inn. The owner Germanus is basically a red brick manufacturer and these days has become a construction desinger.

I & my wife had lunch from Germanus on April 16th 2006, while driving back to Trivandrum from Kodaikanal. It is a good hotel, and there were very few people in the restaurant. The rates were o.k..

We just happened to drop in at Germanus, sighted this hotel while waiting at a traffic signal just before it..

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8913/germanushn0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

MADURAI: Malaysia Airlines is planning to launch a five-point service between Trichy, Madurai, Chennai, Singapore and Malaysia to ensure a hassle-free trip for Malaysia and Singapore-bound passengers from cities like Madurai and Trichy in the near future, said C N Shanmugham, sales manager, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Malaysia Airlines.

Speaking at a function held here to promote the Malaysian Tourism Department’s new tourism booster campaign ‘Visit Malaysia 2007’ among air-travel agents from the southern parts of the State, he said, “ A large number of people from second-tier cities are now making international trips.

In fact, 37 percentage of the total foreign-bound Indian tourists are from second-tier cities,” said Joseph K Jose, marketing manager of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board.

‘Visit Malaysia 2007’ has been launched on the occasion of the golden jubilee year of Malaysian Independence with a view to attracting 20.1 million tourists to Malaysia. “Tourism is the second largest industry in Malaysia and India is rated as the ninth tourist provider country for Malaysia,” Jose added.

Malaysia Airlines, a major airliner operating daily flights to Malaysia from Chennai and other major cities, have come up with a number of passenger-friendly initiatives, which are likely to serve as tourism boosters.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20061125015501&Page=T&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0

[QUOTE=sudheeshnairs;10613788]I & my wife had lunch from Germanus on April 16th 2006, while driving back to Trivandrum from Kodaikanal. It is a good hotel, and there were very few people in the restaurant. The rates were o.k..
We just happened to drop in at Germanus, sighted this hotel while waiting at a traffic signal just before it..
http://i10.tinypic.com/29ve1xw.jpg
This picture sounds lika a symbolic picture for Germanus, as he started his career with bricks making and sand sale, with the bullock cart and all, 20 years back and now he owns a star hotel.

Now that quite a few International carriers have evinced interest in starting service from Madurai, what is the current status of the airport development?. Does anyone have updates on the runway extension and the new terminal building works?. It would be very sad if these international carriers cannot start service from Madurai because of any delay in airport development works.

Even local carriers like the air deccan are waiting for the completion of development works to start A320 service, linking Madurai to Mumbai and Delhi. When CII and MADITSSIA cried for development of Madurai airport to enable operating international flights, AAI pushed aside their demands saying there was no request from international airline companies. Now that both domestic and international airline companies are interested but the AAI seems lethargic.

Hi MaduraiVeeran,
I don't know why Air Deccan needs to wait for flying A-320. INDIAN is flying A-320 without any load penalty after the runway extension which got completed.
But, other airport upgradation work, especially the terminal development and international flights is kept in the dark. This doesn't augur well for the city. Let's hope that some good sense prevails to take this Airport to the next level.

Really great news to see Malaysia Airlines is interested to connect Madurai. Air Asia from Malaysia has been telling the same long time ago. So, far it has been a slip between the Cup and the Lip for Madurai.

Hi MaduraiVeeran,
I don't know why Air Deccan needs to wait for flying A-320. INDIAN is flying A-320 without any load penalty after the runway extension which got completed.
But, other airport upgradation work, especially the terminal development and international flights is kept in the dark. This doesn't augur well for the city. Let's hope that some good sense prevails to take this Airport to the next level.

I think Indian is not able to use the maximum seat load yet. As of now they can hold only like 2/3 rd of the original capacity of passengers.

Any news about the programme schedule, like the sessions or topics to be discussed at the SPEED 2006, to be held this weekend?.

From various news sources its clear that Finance minister P.Chidhambaram will inaugurate the event and chief minister M.Karunanidhi is also likely to participate. The event organisers have also approached Key leaders from Indian industry including Infosys' Nandan Nilekani, United Breweries' Vijay Mallya, Ashok Leyland's R Seshasayee and HCL's Shiv Nadar.

Are there any important persons from IT/ITES companies or other Indian or MNC's attending?. Hope the above invited people turn up.

Rs.478 lakh tourism development package for Madurai

Thousand Pillar Mantapam at the Meenakshi Amman temple to get a facelift

CHENNAI: The State Government has decided to enhance amenities for tourists in the temple town of Madurai with Central assistance at a cost of Rs.478.03 lakh. Minister for Tourism N. Suresh Rajan on Monday reviewed the performance of the department in increasing the duration of the stay of tourists, besides enhancing basic facilities in the tourist centres in the State.
The Minister said Rs.155 lakh would be earmarked for giving the Thousand Pillar Mantapam at the Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai a facelift. Concrete roads would be laid on the four Chitrai streets as part of the tourism promotion project, he added.
Under the programme to promote less prominent tourist spots, Rs.1crore had been allotted for developing infrastructure at the Yelagiri hills in Vellore district. These projects would be implemented through the Collectors of Madurai and Vellore, he said. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) would purchase a Volvo bus for daily services between Chennai and Tirupathi at a cost of Rs.62 lakh. All the nine old buses belonging to the TTDC would be replaced with new luxury buses at a cost of Rs.1.75 crore, Mr.Rajan said.
The TTDC had so far earned Rs.50 lakh from tourism while its revenue last year was Rs.32.38 lakh. The expected revenue this year would be Rs.80 lakh, he added.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/28/stories/2006112803730400.htm

Agri Export Zone(AEZ) for flowers planned in Madurai

Mr Ramasundaram, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), said that one of the earlier agri export zones, Tanflora, `had turned the corner.' Over 25 investors had taken up 50 ha land in the facility in Hosur and it was fully allocated. It would be debt-free by January 2007 and it was looking at expanding.

AEZs had a long gestation period of over 6-8 years. But they were coming up. More such AEZs and agri-marketing hubs are planned in Erode for turmeric, Nanguneri for herbs, Madurai for flower.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/11/28/stories/2006112801852100.htm

Agri Export Zone(AEZ) for flowers planned in Madurai

Mr Ramasundaram, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), said that AEZs had a long gestation period of over 6-8 years. But they were coming up. More such AEZs and agri-marketing hubs are planned in Erode for turmeric, Nanguneri for herbs, Madurai for flower.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/11/28/stories/2006112801852100.htm

Should the TN government send proposal to the centre for AEZ establishment like in the case of SEZ?. What are the steps required before establishing one?. How far is Madurai and Nanguneri from realising the AEZ?.

MADURAI : A first-of-its-kind expo, Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED) 2006, is to be held here from December 1 to 3 to showcase the immense potential available in the southern districts for industrial investment.

Unveiling the face of SPEED 2006 here on Tuesday, its chairman, T. Kannan, said that the "world class show" would attempt to harness new initiatives and business opportunities and invite new investments for the region, besides serving as a platform for partnerships and networking. It would also provide enough inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Mr. Kannan said that SPEED, a strategy formulated by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) two years back, had reached a stage when development of the southern districts had become a social imperative with pressures of urbanisation at an all-time high. The State Government, he said, was partnering with the CII in the conduct of the expo. It would feature a three-day exhibition, a two-day conference, buyer-seller meets, pavilions of industries and a southern districts investment meet. Participants would be from automotive, food processing, information technology, textiles, health care, printing, rubber, finance and insurance and tourism sectors.

R. Dinesh, co-chairman, said that the main aim of SPEED 2006 would be to get a major investment in the manufacturing sector and a couple of investments in the services sector.

Along with IT and IT-enabled services, the expo would focus on the potential for manufacturing units in the south, where it was possible to generate at least 1000 jobs a year. Medical tourism would be another area to get due attention.

The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, will release a CII-sponsored survey on the industrial potential of Sivaganga district on the last day of the expo.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/29/stories/2006112917490300.htm

RR Industries to set-up IT SEZ including a 400 acre township at a cost of Rs. 4500 Crore in Madurai

RR Industries, which is into the business of infrastructure facilities on long-term lease to IT companies, is setting-up an IT SEZ in Madurai.

According to sources, the IT Park would be part of an integrated township.

The project, planned over 400-acre area in Madurai would be an integrated township around an IT park complex, is being set up at a total investment of Rs 4500 crores.

The work on the project is to begin in mid-December.

Earlier this month, the company had said it was foraying into Tier-1 and Tier-2 towns in Tamil Nadu.

http://www.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle1.asp?artid=91493

great news for madurai...almost a billion dollars investment....impressive!!!!

oooo Thas awesome news!!

:)

RR Industries Ltd., which is in the business of creating infrastructure facilities for IT companies, is setting up a Rs. 4,500 crore integrated IT township in Madurai, according to R. Ravi, Managing Director.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Ravi said the township would be created over four to seven years depending on the pace of absorption of the space.

The total township would consist of seven million sq. ft. of IT park space and 25,000 apartments, of which two-thirds would be sold and the balance would be leased out.

Mr. Ravi said the integrated township, christened as Rudrudev Township Pvt. Ltd., would house four shopping malls, two multiplexes, two hospitals and two hotels.

It would have a complete treatment of waste-water and garbage disposal. In the first phase, one million sq ft. of IT park space and 3,000 apartments would be constructed. The rest of the project would be completed depending on the demand, he said.

Mr. Ravi said the company had already bought and registered the required 400 acres for Rs. 90 crore. It would be investing Rs. 600 crore in the first phase. The company had applied for SEZ status for 50 acres out of the total of 400 acres. It would build 7,000 apartments, six to seven million sq. ft. of IT park space, one hospital and one hotel in the SEZ area, he added.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113002651800.htm

Self edited

Salient features of RR Industries 400 acre IT township at Madurai :

1. IT township to include 7 million sq. ft. of IT park space and 25,000 apartments.
2. Total project outlay 4,500 crore Rs.
3. Land acquired and registered at a cost of 90 crore Rs.
3. Township would also house four shopping malls, two multiplexes, two hospitals and two hotels.
4. It would have a complete treatment of waste-water and garbage disposal.
5. 1 million sq ft. of IT park space and 3,000 apartments to be constructed in first phase.
6. First phase to be completed next year and work to start mid december at an outlay of Rs. 600 crores.
7. SEZ status sought for 50 acres out of the total 400 acres.
8. To build 7,000 apartments, 6-7 million sq. ft. of IT park space, one hospital and one hotel in the SEZ area.
9. Entire township to be ready in 4-7 years depending on the pace of absorption of the space.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113002651800.htm

'Connect Madurai' and 'Madurai Travel Mart' to be organised as a part of SPEED 2006 conference

Connect Madurai

Madurai: Over 15 information technology companies are to participate in `Connect Madurai,' an IT and IT-enabled services meet, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in association with the State Government, here on December 1. T. Kannan, past chairman, CII, Southern Region, said that the event would provide an opportunity for IT majors to explore Madurai and southern districts.

He added that the IT companies would find it a worthwhile proposition to start new ventures in tier II cities like Madurai where it was cheaper to operate than in any metro. The cost of living and operational costs were 15 to 20 per cent lower than in bigger cities, he pointed out.

R. Dinesh, co-chairman, SPEED 2006, said that `Connect Madurai,' an event organised in the State for the second time after the one held in Chennai, would showcase south Tamil Nadu as an Indian destination for IT majors. The CEOs of leading IT companies were expected to take part in the programme in which focus would be on IT and IT-enabled services.

Madurai Travel Mart

The Madurai Travel Mart, would have a `model village' in which 25 artisans would exhibit their skills. A food fiesta, `Ruchi Food Festival,' would be an event in which leading hotels of the city would supply food at nominal cost.

He said that over 2000 foreigners visited Madurai as medical tourists last year and SPEED 2006 would project the south as an ideal destination for medical tourism.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113011020100.htm

That's an awesome news. This news couldn't come at a better time with the SPEED 2006 being planned at Madurai.
Is this the Satellite township (Thunai Nagaram) announced by the State Govt? Hope this doesn't get into any political controversy like the Chennai's Satellite township.
The project looks impressive and let's hope it becomes a reality. Looking forward to more details on this project.

RR is a private developer. It is not developed by the govt and 400 acres seem small for a satellite city.

From the news source its clear that they have already acquired and registered the 400 acres land. So where in Madurai is this IT township coming?.

From the news source its clear that they have already acquired and registered the 400 acres land. So where in Madurai is this IT township coming?.

As Willy said I wont use the term satellite city because its planned well within the city limit. This is coming around Madurai Airport, therefore this new patch of the city will have the airport within 5 minute reach. This project will cover the region from the Airport and streches till the Nagamalai Pudukottai area, where the Govt. is constructing an IT park besides MKU. 1 billion dollar project sounds very posh and hi tech.

Self edited

As Willy said I wont use the term satellite city because its planned well within the city limit. This is coming around Madurai Airport, therefore this new patch of the city will have the airport within 5 minute reach. This project will cover the region from the Airport and streches till the Nagamalai Pudukottai area, where the Govt. is constructing an IT park besides MKU. 1 billion dollar project sounds very posh and hi tech.

From where did you get the above information?. How can the IT township stretch all the way to MKU. Isn't Nagamalai far from the airport region (avaniyapuram)?. Please provide the source of the info.

posts #373 and #366 are repeats to my earlier posts

I am also curious to know how a township can extend from Airport side to MKU when it's only for 400 acres.

Willy,
Do you have any idea about the status of the government proposed Satellite City in Madurai?

Also, does anyone know about the proposed SIPCOT in Madurai?

The Chairman, CII Madurai Zone, Mr Ligi George, said the State Health Minister, Mr K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, would attend the event, co-sponsored by the Government of Tamil Nadu, on the first day while the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, would be present on December 3.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113003700200.htm


Isn't Dayanidhi Maran attending the SPEED 2006 conference and Connect Madurai?. Dayanidhi marans presence would have sent positive signals to possible investors in madurai. It would have shown how the state government was keen to develop madurai along with centers participation especially in IT.

Flextronics are willing to buy 3 lak sq fts in the proposed integrated township which is come nearby madurai airport. There will be 60-100 IT companies in the integrated township. Source : Dinakaran

While I am happy to hear some positive news from the forum members here, I haven't seen any news related to these so far.

Mani,
Is this news from today's Dinakaran?

I found it in Dinakaran. Flextronics willing to buy 3Lakh Sq ft of space in the township. Thanks Mani for the heads up.

Flextronics is great news.




Willy,
Do you have any idea about the status of the government proposed Satellite City in Madurai?



I do not know much about thae satellite city madurai. whatever I know is mainly through this forum.

Flextronics is great news.




I do not know much about thae satellite city madurai. whatever I know is mainly through this forum.

Thats's fine. Thanks.

Flextronics are willing to buy 3 lak sq fts in the proposed integrated township which is to come nearby madurai airport. There will be 60-100 IT companies in the integrated township. Source : Dinakaran

WOW thats a great news!!!! :banana:

This announcement would give a thrust to RR Industries IT township, so that they get it complete ASAP.

Finally Madurai is up for a image make over. Hoping for a slew of investments to follow up Flextronics at the SPEED 2006.

From where did you get the above information?. How can the IT township stretch all the way to MKU. Isn't Nagamalai far from the airport region (avaniyapuram)?. Please provide the source of the info.

As we have our own real estate business, we have to constantly check the land acquisition in the area, I got this information from a trustful source. Though the area is small, it might be a strech of land. Avaniapuram and MKU is infact very close, if you check the map you will notice it. Just the road connection doesnt exist because of the hilly mountains (Samanar malai and all), water bodies (Avaniapuram kanmai, lake) and some forest strech, but if you travel by train to MKU from Madurai central you will notice this. If you are in Madurai give a walking expedition then you can see that. When I studied in SBOA, Nagamalai me and my friends used to make walking expedition through the hills and lakes to reach Pasumalai and other place in the city.

Thanx Selvam for the info. Then the city administration and government officials should look to build a link road between MKU and Avaniyapuram(airport) with the 250 acre IT park planned near MKU.

Airport areas close to the ring road was always the destination i thought had good scope for IT/ITES to come up. And my thoughts are slowly becoming reality. There is plenty of land available near to the airport and along the ring road close to airport. Also it would make access to the NH 45B and NH7 easier. Thus its proving to be an ideal destination.

Thanx Selvam for the info. Then the city administration and government officials should look to build a link road between MKU and Avaniyapuram(airport) with the 250 acre IT park planned near MKU.

Airport areas close to the ring road was always the destination i thought had good scope for IT/ITES to come up. And my thoughts are slowly becoming reality. There is plenty of land available near to the airport and along the ring road close to airport. Also it would make access to the NH 45B and NH7 easier. Thus its proving to be an ideal destination.
If I am right, the ring road goes through this area but in a longer radial that is not very close. Also there are roads connecting through villages. We used to make city bus exploration by travelling from Mellakuyilkudi, a village next to SBOA campus, which is behind Samanar malai. This village gets busses from Periyar through Nagamalai area and also from Palanganatham through Pasumalai area. Mellakuyilkudi-Pasumalai-Palangnatham trip, I dont remeber the bus number, is time consuming because of the bad roads going through the villages, lakes and farms. The Govt. can infact make this road into atleast a State Highway or something like IT corridor sort as it seems like all the IT parks are coming in this stretch.
This will infact connect Madurai Airport to Thekkady area, Kodaikanal, Palani and Idukki district in Kerala without going into Madurai city.

Except in dinakaran i havent seen anywhere else, the news about Flextronics assurance and willingness to take up 3 lak sq fts in the RR Industries IT township. If anyone has more info regarding this please post it along with source.

Reg these investments from private players:
Please understand that the Private players are taking too big a risk in investing in Tier II cities, without any proper backing and support from the Govt. What was originally proposed as pure IT facility has been changed to include all other forms of infrastructure since Madurai does not have these. Even now, it is still premature. So please keep your fingers crossed

Sorry to move the post to madurai thread. I had to do so because of its relevance to this thread.

I dont feel this project is in its premature stage bcos the private player has already bought 400 acres of land at a cost of 90 crore Rs. You won't find a private player doing such a move unless he is sure about what he is up to.The project is slated to start mid december, and with all the plans in place already, i dont think its premature.

Also I dont think that the private player has taken such a move without the backing from government. There must have been some assurances and incentives given by the TN govnt. as per its plan to move IT to tier II cities.

With the news that Flextronics has also expressed interest to occupy 3 lak sq. ft, i dont see any way that this project could go to the shelves.

Let us all wait and see. :-)

HCL Infosystems digital lifestyle store to open in Madurai

HCL Infosystems, an information enabling and integration company, has forayed into the South Indian market with its digital lifestyle stores.

The company is planning 10 stores in Andhra and launch in Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin and Madurai. "Each of these stores will be about 800 to 1,000 square feet in space," HCL Infosystems executive vice-president Rajendra Kumar told ET. These stores stock digital music players, home theatre systems, computers, gaming consoles, digital cameras and printers.

It would sell brands like HCL, Apple, Microsoft, Toshiba and Casio. Industry estimates peg the current potential of digital lifestyle market around Rs 2,500 crore, according to a company statement

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/657753.cms

As we have our own real estate business, we have to constantly check the land acquisition in the area, I got this information from a trustful source. Though the area is small, it might be a strech of land. Avaniapuram and MKU is infact very close, if you check the map you will notice it. Just the road connection doesnt exist because of the hilly mountains (Samanar malai and all), water bodies (Avaniapuram kanmai, lake) and some forest strech, but if you travel by train to MKU from Madurai central you will notice this. If you are in Madurai give a walking expedition then you can see that. When I studied in SBOA, Nagamalai me and my friends used to make walking expedition through the hills and lakes to reach Pasumalai and other place in the city.

Dear Selvam,
Avaniapuram might be closer to MKU if you consider the shorter routes. But, how can there be an IT Park between these places as almost the whole stretch is already populated.
The shortest route I can think of from Airport(not Avaniapuram) to MKU is either "Airport-Tirupparankundram-Tirunagar-Vilachery-Nagamalai-MKU" or "Airport-Tirupparankundram-Tirunagar-ThenPalanji-MKU". This itself could come to more than 20 Kms. If there is a shorter route, please clarify.
Nice to know that you have some real estate back ground. Hoping to get good tips from you about Madurai real estate. Have you heard anything about SIPCOT so far? If so, please share it with us, if you can.

Thanx Selvam for the info. Then the city administration and government officials should look to build a link road between MKU and Avaniyapuram(airport) with the 250 acre IT park planned near MKU.

Airport areas close to the ring road was always the destination i thought had good scope for IT/ITES to come up. And my thoughts are slowly becoming reality. There is plenty of land available near to the airport and along the ring road close to airport. Also it would make access to the NH 45B and NH7 easier. Thus its proving to be an ideal destination.

There is a ring road from close the airport to Kappalur to catch NH7 as you might be aware. The four lane bypass is being constructed between Thoppur and Samayanallur which goes through Nagamalai area. MKU should be about 2 Kms from the Ring Road where it cuts Nagamalai area. Though it might be a round about way, it could be the faster route in the future.

There is a ring road from close the airport to Kappalur to catch NH7 as you might be aware. The four lane bypass is being constructed between Thoppur and Samayanallur which goes through Nagamalai area. MKU should be about 2 Kms from the Ring Road where it cuts Nagamalai area. Though it might be a round about way, it could be the faster route in the future.

This route between MKU and Airport would be perfect. Do you have an idea about how far will MKU be from airport then?. I think thoppur could be around 15kms from the airport(If you go through the ring road then reach the intersection where it cuts the NH7 and then go north towards kappalur). But i have no idea about the distance from thoppur to nagamalai through the proposed 4 way bypass. Its atmost important to have a shorter as well as faster link road. The ring road already has provision for expansion to 4 way and also with the proposed 4 way bypass linking thoppur to nagamalai this becomes possible.

What about the final phase of ring road?. This could actually solve the problem of linking MKU to airport. Then we need not consider the above proposal.

Madurai corporation decides to handover the ring road to NHAI, after its requests to do so for 4 laning process

Uthangudi to Kappalur stretch of the ring road to be handed over to NHAI. NHAI had been asking for this stretch for the past 2 years to make it a 4 lane highway. Madurai corporation was asked by the TN highways department to hand over the stretch to NHAI to facilitate the four laning process. Finally madurai corporation accepted the deal but has demanded for the total project implementation, maintenance and bank loans which sum up to 24.25 crore Rs. to be paid back by the NHAI.

Source : Dinamalar

Madurai corporation decides to handover the ring road to NHAI, after its requests to do so for 4 laning process

Uthangudi to Kappalur stretch of the ring road to be handed over to NHAI. NHAI had been asking for this stretch for the past 2 years to make it a 4 lane highway. Madurai corporation was asked by the TN highways department to hand over the stretch to NHAI to facilitate the four laning process. Finally madurai corporation accepted the deal but has demanded for the total project implementation, maintenance and bank loans which sum up to 24.25 crore Rs. to be paid back by the NHAI.

Source : Dinamalar

Welcome move by the corporation. The cash starved corporation would have had a difficult time maintaining as well as paying back the WB loan with interest. This could have prevented them from upgrading this stretch to 4 lane. Now that NHAI is going to takeover for the porpose of 4 laning, we could soon see a 4 lane ring road.

Does Uthangudi to Kappalur section of the ring road mean the entire 27 km stretch from melur road to kappalur?. Bcos the entire ring road project was about 40+ crore Rs. But this news talks about cost as 20+ crore Rs.

MADURAI VEERAN:
the private player has already bought 400 acres of land at a cost of 90 crore Rs.

you said it. Good advt. meant for IPO and FDI partner. ROI?????

Isn't it natural and important for any company to advertise its project, that too when its such a huge project and in a tier II city, while most of the probable investors are in chennai.

Isn't it natural and important for any company to advertise its project, that too when its such a huge project and in a tier II city, while most of the probable investors are in chennai.

Let us see how long is it gonna take for the project to get complete.

Let us all wait and see.

Let us see how long is it gonna take for the project to get complete.

I can understand your concern for the project. Let us all be optimistic vijayan:) . You sound very pessimistic.

Three-day `SPEED 2006' inaugurated in Madurai (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120201840200.htm)


Time chose to date with Madurai and the other southern districts to unfold the inherent strengths of the region to prospective investors in IT, IT-enabled services and the manufacturing sector at the three-day `SPEED 2006 (Southern Prosperity Through Enhanced Economic Development -2006)' exhibition-cum-conference which opened today at the Tamukkam grounds here.

The meet is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and co-sponsored by the Tamil Nadu Government.

The opportune moment has arrived for the southern districts to prosper in terms of attracting investments to the region, given its low land and living costs, skilled, co-operative and peace loving manpower and on-going infrastructure development to provide connectivity through air, road and port facilities, said the Tamil Nadu Minister for Health, Mr K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, in his special address at the inaugural session on `Connect Madurai'.

Appreciating the lead taken by the industrial houses in the region to showcase Madurai and the south, he assured fullest co-operation to the efforts.

Speaking earlier, Dr C. Chandramouli, IT Secretary, said the contribution from the IT sector in the State to national exports was 14 per cent and a target of 25 per cent has been visualised. Enquiries have been pouring in for investments at Chennai.The Government, however, wanted the IT revolution to spread to other cities and the prime movers of investment would find the value growing, he pointed out.

IT academy


An IT academy under public-private partnership is being set up to look into the curriculum, training, content development for improving skill levels.

In association with NASSCOM, steps are being taken to provide training and certification to make the graduates from the engineering colleges employable. The Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu is working on improving the IT skills in rural areas, he added.

Mr Shaktikanta Das, Industries Secretary, in his address said as per the statistics of the Indian Government, 318 projects worth Rs 11,500 crore were in the pipeline for the State and if half of them could be attracted to the southern districts, employment to 1.6 lakh people, both direct and indirect could be provided.

Steps are being initiated to set up an IT Park in tier II cities. To enable growth, textile parks are also being encouraged. The power sector in the State is being strengthened, he added.

The Chairman of SPEED 2006, Mr T. Kannan, cited the strong educational base in the south, providing manpower to industries at Chennai and Bangalore. He asked investors to take advantage of the potential by opening their units in thesouthern districts of the State.

Mr R. Dinesh, Co-Chairman of SPEED 2006, Mr Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, CONNECT 2006, Mr R. Ravi, Managing Director, RR Industries and Mr C. Ramachandran, Chairman, ETL Infrastructure Services Ltd, also spoke.

1. RR Industries 400 acre IT Township at a cost of 4,500 crore Rs.

2. Shopping complex with a convention centre by ETL Infrastructure Services at an outlay of 100 Crore Rs.

3. Rs 75 crore Heritage project.

4. Tie-up for a Rs 10 crore project with a Sri Lankan company by Vaigai Industries.

5. Joint research initiative between MICO and Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

6. Antenna testing project between TVS Interconnect Services and TCE.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120204880300.htm

441 acres of Land identified and proposal sent to state government for runway expansion

MADURAI: The district administration has identified 441 acres of land for the expansion of runway at Madurai airport and the proposal for acquiring the land is being sent to the State Government, according to the Collector, T. Udayachandran.

He said that modernisation of Madurai airport was a priority for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the process was being expedited.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120217290300.htm

Consultants appointed by the Corporation for infrastructure development to submit report soon and works to start by March

Collector, T. Udayachandran said that the consultants appointed by the Corporation to suggest improving roads, sanitation, water supply and heritage spots and constructing elevated flyovers at important traffic junctions would submit their reports soon and works would start by March.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120217290300.htm

Staff Reporter

Airport modernisation being expedited, says Collector

MADURAI: The district administration has identified 441 acres of land for the expansion of runway at Madurai airport and the proposal for acquiring the land is being sent to the State Government, according to the Collector, T. Udayachandran.

He said that modernisation of Madurai airport was a priority for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the process was being expedited.

The Collector was speaking at a plenary session on `Why Madurai?', held as part of `Connect Madurai' conference, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), aimed at promoting Madurai as an investment destination, here on Friday.

He said that the runaway would be extended from the present 6,000 feet so that flight connectivity could be increased at the airport.

Explaining the historical and geographical strengths of Madurai, Mr. Udayachandran said that the district contributed 19.5 per cent of the State's gross domestic product and the large number of engineering colleges constantly made available a large talent pool.

He said that the consultants appointed by the Corporation to suggest improving roads, sanitation, water supply and heritage spots and constructing elevated flyovers at important traffic junctions would submit their reports soon and works would start by March.

Earlier, advocating a strong case to get investments to Madurai, the president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, S. Rethinavelu, said that the city had to be properly showcased to IT players.

"The land and construction costs are cheaper here. There are a large number of graduates passing out of engineering and arts colleges every year," he said. Mr. Rethinavelu said that the airport and port connectivity were the strengths of the region and the chamber had taken up several initiatives in the past to develop facilities in the district.

C. Umashanker, Managing Director of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), V. Abhaikumar, Principal, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, and Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Chairman, CII-Tamil Nadu, were among those who spoke.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120217290300.htm

------------------------
I am not sure if the press report is wrong now or before. I thought the Runway has been extended from 6000ft to 7500ft already or at the finishing stages. Are they talking about extending it to 9000ft? Something fishy here.

A Related news about Madurai Airport expansion more than an year ago.

Madurai airport expansion
Our Correspondent




MADURAI: Sixty acres of land has been handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to facilitate the process of expansion of the Madurai Airport, the District Collector, Mr B. Chandra Mohan, has said.

In a meet with the presspersons here, the Collector said, the AAI had planned to undertake various works. Apart from extending the runway up to 7,500 feet, strengthening of the existing runway, taxiway and apron to serve B737-800 class of aircraft have been planned.

Under the airport modernisation plan, the airport would get instrument landing system (ILS) in the extended runway and Simple Approach Lighting system, at a total cost of Rs 21.15 crore. The authorities have already completed construction of a compound wall, renovation of the existing terminal building and centralised air-conditioning for arrival and departure lounges, at a cost of Rs 2.10 crore, he said. The works such as expansion of apron to accommodate four aircraft in addition, construction of new terminal building with modern facilities with 500-passenger capacity and parking area with a capacity for 200 cars, are be taken up during the phase II improvement programme. Efforts were on to upgrade the approach road to the airport, he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/10/17/stories/2003101700471700.htm

Another related news from the archives.

Groundwork for strengthening airport runway begins

S. Sundar

Completion of the project will make room for Airbus 320 flights


Extension of runway to 7,500 feet
Indian Airlines will be major beneficiary
Project to cost Rs.30 cr.
Recarpeting will be done

TO SCALE A NEW HEIGHT: The Madurai Airport, which is set for growth. — Photo: K. Ganesan.


MADURAI: Will the decision of the Airport Authority of India to upgrade the Madurai airport invite more flight services? Will the people of the region help it to become an international terminal with an increased patronage?

With these lingering questions unanswered, the groundwork for expansion and strengthening of the runway has begun at the Madurai airport.

Once the Rs.30-crore work is completed, the airport will be able to handle Airbus 320 flights.

"Work has been undertaken to implement the Union Government's policy to have a uniform facility in all airports in the country, especially to handle the Airbus 320 aircraft without any load penalty," the Senior Manager (Aerodrome), Shajee Thomas, said.

Indian Airlines will be the major beneficiary of the extension of the runway from the existing 6000 feet to 7500 feet as its A 320 flight can be operated with full capacity. At present, with a shorter runway, the flight is restricted to take a maximum of 110 passengers as against the full capacity of 145.

Sources said that IA is not able to fully tap the seasonal rush during April, May and June only because of the restriction. Besides the extension of the runway, recarpeting work will be taken up.

The installation of Instrumental Landing System, which is likely to begin soon, will provide a fillip to safer landing of aircraft.

The ILS will provide accurate information about the centre line of the runway and the glide angle for landing to the pilot.

Once the AAI's proposal to construct a new terminal building comes into effect, the demand to make it an international terminal will gain momentum, as the building has provision to accommodate customs and immigration facilities.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/04/14/stories/2005041413950300.htm

Friends,
What's up with today's news about extending the runway? Pl throw more light on it. Thanks.

`Speed 2006' sends out positive signals on development

IT captains congregate under one roof

MADURAI : The coming together of stakeholders at the Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED) 2006, an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with the State Government here, sent positive signals for development on Friday.
The event witnessed a confluence of purpose with captains of information technology (IT) industry from Bangalore and Chennai, travel writers from across the world, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats and policymakers congregating under one roof for the first day's event, `Connect Madurai.' Passionate presentations by officials on the need to develop south Tamil Nadu and announcements on setting up new ventures in the journey to take the region forward signalled the beginning of an initiative to bring tier II and III towns into the road map for development.
Health Minister K. K. S. S. R. Ramachandran, who inaugurated the event, emphasised the Government's commitment to develop the south. IT Secretary C. Chandramouli asked why Madurai should not join the IT revolution with its available strengths.
He also outlined the steps taken to redefine the curriculum of engineering colleges, the programme to develop soft skills among students of rural colleges and the NASSCOM certification for students of arts and science colleges.
Industries Secretary, Shaktikanda Das spoke about the need to take the development process to places outside Chennai. He said that the Government was working on a policy initiative to forge partnerships between institutions and the industry at the micro level.
Good news flowed at Connect Madurai in the form of announcements on the setting up of an IT Park by RR Industries, a Rs 75 crore heritage project and a Rs 100 crore shopping complex with a convention centre by ETL Infrastructure Services, a tie-up for a Rs 10 crore project with a Sri Lankan company by Vaigai Industries, a joint research initiative between MICO and Thiagarajar College of Engineering and an antenna testing project between TVS Interconnect Services and TCE, all in Madurai.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120214481000.htm

1. RR Industries 400 acre IT Township at a cost of 4,500 crore Rs.

2. Shopping complex with a convention centre by ETL Infrastructure Services at an outlay of 100 Crore Rs.

3. Rs 75 crore Heritage project.

4. Tie-up for a Rs 10 crore project with a Sri Lankan company by Vaigai Industries.

5. Joint research initiative between MICO and Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

6. Antenna testing project between TVS Interconnect Services and TCE.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120204880300.htm

What do they mean by the 75 crore heritage project?. Do they mean investment to improve heritage sites in Madurai?.

Good news, finally Madurai is going to have a convention center cum shopping mall at an outlay of 100 crore Rs.

Pl refer to the news in Tamil,

http://www.dinamalar.com/2006dec02/district/madurai.asp#2


1000 Acres identified at Madurai for SEZ.
It could be expanded to 2500 acres.
Potential for improving Tourism growth.

I am not sure if the press report is wrong now or before. I thought the Runway has been extended from 6000ft to 7500ft already or at the finishing stages. Are they talking about extending it to 9000ft? Something fishy here.

I think it could be a mistake. We have had previous reports and even air deccan guys saying that early next yr they would operate bigger flights once the on going expansion of runway is finished. I guess it could be the expansion to 9000 ft.

I think it could be a mistake. We have had previous reports and even air deccan guys saying that early next yr they would operate bigger flights once the on going expansion of runway is finished. I guess it could be the expansion to 9000 ft.

I hope so too. If it is indeed going to be extended to 9000 ft, it is definitely an awesome news.
Btw, no news on Deccan Lanka's plans to fly from Colombo to Madurai and other cities from last October.
Also, no news on Paramount's plans for a direct Bangalore-Madurai flight which disappoints me more than Deccan Lanka's plans.

Pl refer to the news in Tamil,

http://www.dinamalar.com/2006dec02/district/madurai.asp#2


1000 Acres identified at Madurai for SEZ.
It could be expanded to 2500 acres.
Potential for improving Tourism growth.


Woooow 2500 acre SEZ !!!!!!, thats a great news. Nice to know that 1000 acres of land has already been identified for the SEZ.

This news was conveyed by the Tamil nadu Industries department secretary (Thozil thurai seyalar) sakthikandass at the Connect Madurai.

If this indeed takes shape then that would really be a boon to the region.

Woooow 2500 crore SEZ !!!!!!, thats a great news. Nice to know that 1000 acres of land has already been identified for the SEZ.

This news was conveyed by the Tamil nadu Industries department secretary (Thozil thurai seyalar) sakthikandass at the Connect Madurai.

If this indeed takes shape then that would really be a boon to the region.

I am sorry, I mistyped the news. It's 2500 acres and not 2500 Cr. I changed my post also.
Nevertheless, its a wonderful news if it becomes a reality. Looking forward to see this news in more dailies.

What about the proposed biotechnology park by previous ADMK goverment. Because Madurai kamaraj university is in Top 5 in the Biotechnology colleges in India.

Check this out... they now have an authorised service station for benz..
now they are planning a new dealership..
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/30daim.htm

Salient features of RR Industries 400 acre IT township at Madurai :

1. IT township to include 7 million sq. ft. of IT park space and 25,000 apartments.
2. Total project outlay 4,500 crore Rs.
3. Land acquired and registered at a cost of 90 crore Rs.
3. Township would also house four shopping malls, two multiplexes, two hospitals and two hotels.
4. It would have a complete treatment of waste-water and garbage disposal.
5. 1 million sq ft. of IT park space and 3,000 apartments to be constructed in first phase.
6. First phase to be completed next year and work to start mid december at an outlay of Rs. 600 crores.
7. SEZ status sought for 50 acres out of the total 400 acres.
8. To build 7,000 apartments, 6-7 million sq. ft. of IT park space, one hospital and one hotel in the SEZ area.
9. Entire township to be ready in 4-7 years depending on the pace of absorption of the space.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113002651800.htm



More on this.

Noting that the work on the township would be completed in four to seven years, depending on the demand from IT companies, Ravi added that Flextronics had expressed interest in leasing 3 lakh to 5 lakh sft of land in the IT SEZ, which it plans to expand into a 1-million sft facility over the next seven months.

“While Coimbatore has been billed as the second fastest growing city for manufacturing and IT infrastructure, Madurai is geographically ideal for industrial real estate development with no major town further south. Over ten flights are operating out of Madurai every day, and the number would go up to over 20 flights by 2007-end. This will improve connectivity and help further development in the southern region of the city,” Ravi noted.


http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=266482&subLeft=1&leftnm=1

Hi Mani,
It will be nice to hear more details about the India Today report. Glad to see some positive news about Madurai in the Cover Page.

The india today is the most stupid online new publication i ve ever seen. You have to subscribe for India today.. which would mean you would be physically delivered a copy of the India today at home.. and only those who subscribe for this can have online access to their site..
The sole purpose of having online publication is to serve people who will not be able to get a physical copy.. I dont understand why it is as stupid as this...
Anyways.. i ve learnt this the hard way.. i was very eager to read the report and have subscribed for the india today.. but ahoy...!! i was not able to read the tamil india today online!!!!!!!!!!!
I am going to ask my parents to get this copy of india today in india and let me know what the report says... I cant resist to know abt the report..

Let us see how long is it gonna take for the project to get complete.

Mr Vijayan..
I could sense the jealousy in your quote, for all things happenings for Madurai..and nothing is happening for Salem..(The air deccan flight is yet to take off!!!!!)..
But please console yourselves.. There is a huge difference between madurai and salem.. Salem will never be able to Catch up with Madurai.. If you have any dreams of Salem surpassing Madurai.. It would always be a dream.....
Please do remember that Madurai has a large locational Advantage..
Except for chennai.. all the other corporations and industrial areas (including Tiruppur, Erode, Karur) are within 5 hours drive from Madurai.
After the 4 laning, access to Salem, Chennai, Tiruchi, South Tamilnadu, Thoothukudi.. would be even faster.. Kochi is also 5 hour drive from Madurai..
All these would make Madurai a logistical Hub.. Once Sethusamudiram is done..Tuticorin will become a major port and Madurai would act as a distribution Hub for the cargo.. as the important routes would diverge from madurai...towards..kochi.. western tamilnadu..(coimbatore, erode, tiruppur).. north tamilnadu..(tiruchi..salem..)..
Even now.. without much industries around.. Madurai is always treated in par with well industrialised coimbatore... you get everything from costly diamonds to luxury cars.. it has always been a commercial center..with lot of buyers and sellers....

C'mon guys,let all the cities of TN develop.
MK should have showed up here at SPEED.
Now this is what I call as markerting:
http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=266659&subLeft=1&leftnm=1

C'mon guys,let all the cities of TN develop.
MK should have showed up here at SPEED.
Now this is what I call as markerting:
http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=266659&subLeft=1&leftnm=1

Ya.. I do want that.. please find an earlier post by Mr.Vijayan.. boasting off about Salem..below,
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=326529&page=3
..and following pages of that thread..
I just wanted to reply to that..and make him clear of the misconceptions he has about madurai..

That newspaper news about over 10 flights out of Madurai is not true. But, I hope it becomes true in the near future and also the projections about 20 flights.

7 million sq. feet of IT space in madurai would be great. Ne news abt IT giants investing in madurai?

Yeah. Apart from Honeywell, no IT major has shown any serious interest in Madurai. They limit themselves to recruitment alone. If SPEED 2006 is not able to pull some giants, I doubt if Madurai will be able to get IT Majors' attention in the near future. Hope atleast the concerned parties are able to pull in some majors atleast on a smaller scale.

Mr Vijayan..
I could sense the jealousy in your quote, for all things happenings for Madurai..and nothing is happening for Salem..(The air deccan flight is yet to take off!!!!!)..
But please console yourselves.. There is a huge difference between madurai and salem.. Salem will never be able to Catch up with Madurai.. If you have any dreams of Salem surpassing Madurai.. It would always be a dream.....
Please do remember that Madurai has a large locational Advantage..
Except for chennai.. all the other corporations and industrial areas (including Tiruppur, Erode, Karur) are within 5 hours drive from Madurai.
After the 4 laning, access to Salem, Chennai, Tiruchi, South Tamilnadu, Thoothukudi.. would be even faster.. Kochi is also 5 hour drive from Madurai..
All these would make Madurai a logistical Hub.. Once Sethusamudiram is done..Tuticorin will become a major port and Madurai would act as a distribution Hub for the cargo.. as the important routes would diverge from madurai...towards..kochi.. western tamilnadu..(coimbatore, erode, tiruppur).. north tamilnadu..(tiruchi..salem..)..
Even now.. without much industries around.. Madurai is always treated in par with well industrialised coimbatore... you get everything from costly diamonds to luxury cars.. it has always been a commercial center..with lot of buyers and sellers....


Dear Marurai Fenatic,

OK Man.. There is nothing in Salem.. There are no buyers/sellers...
There are no industries..
Even if we have to buy a bi-cycle we have to depend on Madurai...

Madurai is the heaven.. and the land of everything..

Is that enough?

Isn't it natural and important for any company to advertise its project, that too when its such a huge project and in a tier II city, while most of the probable investors are in chennai.

My message is to be restrained and not to react over enthusiastically (in some cases, negatively) for any announcement. The announcement for Coimbatore Tidel Park was done so many years ago and it is still to see daylight.

Private players will not invest unless the bottom lines are healthy. Blocking lands in the name of SEZs and announcing projects for the sake of IPOs are the orders of the day.

All of us will be too happy if this project is done immediately. I am against our forumers' excessive reactions.

Project announcements from Connect Madurai

2. Shopping complex with a convention centre by ETL Infrastructure Services at an outlay of 100 Crore Rs.

5. Joint research initiative between MICO and Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/02/stories/2006120204880300.htm

MICO is a well renowned auto components firm and is a subsidiary of Germany's Bosch. Nice to now about their reseach initiative in collaboration with TCE.

Any idea about where the ETL's 100 crore convention centre is to comeup?

All of us will be too happy if this project is done immediately. I am against our forumers' excessive reactions.

Yes I agree with Kannan, pls hold your emotions and take a minute, breath and write your personal comments. Life always contain GOOD and BAD aspects.

Yes I agree with Kannan, pls hold your emotions and take a minute, breath and write your personal comments. Life always contain GOOD and BAD aspects.

Correct.... I would pray for the project from RR Industries to turn out as a huge success.. That would be more than enough to make Madurai a better place..

Tenders for IT parks work in 8 weeks time : C. Umashanker, Managing Direcor, ELCOT

C. Umashanker, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, indicated that the clearance for work on the IT parks in Madurai was in the final stage, and the tender process would be set in motion in another eight weeks.

Government will check real estate prices

MADURAI: The State Government will not allow real estate prices to escalate, putting information technology companies at a disadvantage.

It will act to contain the prices in places where IT parks have been planned, C. Umashanker, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, said here on Friday. "We have a strategy to contain the real estate prices. If private landowners try to shoot up the rates, we will go for indiscriminate land acquisition in tier-II cities like Madurai and invite the companies," he said at a plenary session on "Why Madurai?", organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, under the theme, Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED) 2006.

He said there were apprehensions about the escalating land value in cities and towns in the run up to the setting up of IT parks. "... so the Government will take steps to contain the prices."

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/03/stories/2006120314090500.htm

Tenders for IT parks work in 8 weeks time : C. Umashanker, Managing Direcor, ELCOT

C. Umashanker, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, indicated that the clearance for work on the IT parks in Madurai was in the final stage, and the tender process would be set in motion in another eight weeks.


Great news!!!!!. Seems like lots of work are really happening in the background. Nice to know that clearance for work on IT park is in final stages and also about the time frame of 8 weeks set for start of tender process. I think we are heading the right direction.

Mr Vijayan..
Please do remember that Madurai has a large locational Advantage..
Except for chennai.. all the other corporations and industrial areas (including Tiruppur, Erode, Karur) are within 5 hours drive from Madurai.
After the 4 laning, access to Salem, Chennai, Tiruchi, South Tamilnadu, Thoothukudi.. would be even faster.. Kochi is also 5 hour drive from Madurai..
All these would make Madurai a logistical Hub.. Once Sethusamudiram is done..Tuticorin will become a major port and Madurai would act as a distribution Hub for the cargo.. as the important routes would diverge from madurai...towards..kochi.. western tamilnadu..(coimbatore, erode, tiruppur).. north tamilnadu..(tiruchi..salem..)..
Even now.. without much industries around.. Madurai is always treated in par with well industrialised coimbatore... you get everything from costly diamonds to luxury cars.. it has always been a commercial center..with lot of buyers and sellers....

Mr. Madurai Fenatic,

You are talking about the upcoming 4-laning works and Madurai becoming a hub for smaller towns like Tuticorin, Tirunelveli etc.
Salem is enjoying 4/6-lane roads for a very long period. And Salem is the primary hub for many logistics solution providers, as it is the gateway from Bangalore to Kerala, Coimbatore, and sothern Tamil Nadu. And also it falls on the Kochin/Coimbatore-Chennai route.
Please refer to this link if you want a proof.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2002/10/04/stories/2002100400470600.htm
It falls on the important MAS-TVC FEDL.

Mr Vijayan..

Please do remember that Madurai has a large locational Advantage..
Except for chennai.. all the other corporations and industrial areas (including Tiruppur, Erode, Karur) are within 5 hours drive from Madurai.
After the 4 laning, access to Salem, Chennai, Tiruchi, South Tamilnadu, Thoothukudi.. would be even faster.. Kochi is also 5 hour drive from Madurai..
All these would make Madurai a logistical Hub.. ....

Salem-Erode : 1 hour
Salem-Tirupur: 2 hours
Salem-Coimbatore: 3 hurs
Salem-Hosur: 3 hours
Salem-Trichy: 2.5 hours
Salem-Bangalore: 4 hours
Salem-Mettur: 1 hour

I feel 5 hours is longer than these timings. Any comments?

Moreover, Salem itself is a large industrial centre.

Salem-Erode : 1 hour
Salem-Tirupur: 2 hours
Salem-Coimbatore: 3 hurs
Salem-Hosur: 3 hours
Salem-Trichy: 2.5 hours
Salem-Bangalore: 4 hours
Salem-Mettur: 1 hour

I feel 5 hours is longer than these timings. Any comments?

Moreover, Salem itself is a large industrial centre.

Salem -Pondicherry/Cuddalore (nearest port) : 5hrs
Salem - Villupuram :4hrs

Salem -Pondicherry/Cuddalore (nearest port) : 5hrs
Salem - Villupuram :4hrs

Anniyan,

Thanks for the addition.

http://www.dqchannels.com/content/space/106120202.asp

The concept of a Knowledge Industrial Township, which will have housing, school hospital and other facilities, thus offering a 'walk to work' environment, is catching on. And the Tamil Nadu government is going all out to popularize it, with five more Tidel Parks to come up in tier-two cities in the state

The Tamil Nadu government would be promoting Tidel Parks, on the lines of the one in Chennai, in all the tier-two towns to take the IT boom to the emerging cities.

Dr C Chandramouli, IT Secretary, Tamil Nadu, said that the parks would be promoted through private-public partner*ship (PPP) model and would be completed in the next 12 to 14 months. “Tidel Parks would be operational in all the tier-two cities such as Madurai, Tirunelveli, Salem, Hosur and Trichy,” he said adding that all would have one million sq ft of built-up space.

Tidel Park, one of the largest software parks in Tamil Nadu, was set up in Chennai by the government agency TIDCO in the late 1990s to foster the growth of information technology in the state of Tamil Nadu. It has a built-up area of 1.28 million sq ft with centralized air-conditioning and an independent power supply.
Chandramouli said that Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), a body under the Tamil Nadu government, which facilitates the IT Parks, was scouting for private partners for the upcoming projects. C Umashankar, MD, ELCOT said that land had been identified for all the projects in tier-two cities.

“In Madurai, we have identified 50 acre in Chinna Illanthukudi and another 257 acre at Vadapalani village in front of Madurai Kamaraj University,” he said. The project would be a KIT, which will have housing, school, hospital and other facilities, thus offering a 'walk to work' environment.
Umashankar also informed of an IT Park at Hosur at 1,000 acre, which will also be on the lines of KIT, apart from the state government's plans to expand the Trichy Park by another 500 acre, due to demand from the industry.

The ELCOT Chief also informed of 900 acre being earmarked another two places in the state, which is to be promoted for the IT sector, but refused to name of the places.

Meanwhile, Umashankar also informed that the government has decided to enable all the top government officials with laptops in a bid to make them computer-savvy.

“The government of Tamil Nadu has decided to procure 320 laptops to be given to all the top executives heading various departments, across the state,” he informed adding, “Rs 50 lakh have been allocated for this purpose.”

Indications are that the officials would be provided laptops along with printers, electronic signature pads, digital cameras and other accessories.

The state government is also actively considering usage of open source software as compared to the proprietary ones. The move is aimed at gearing the government officials before the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is announced.

'Interestingly, the Tidel Park provides state-of-the-art network connectivity with direct satellite uplink. It is situated in Taramani, and is well connected to all parts of the city.

It currently hosts several software, telecommunications and BPO companies including: Tata Consultancy Services, Verizon Data Services India, Computer Associates, Satyam Computer Services, i-Nautix, Sify, Cognizant Technology Solutions, HCL Technologies, Kumaran Systems, Electronic Data Systems and SCM Microsystems among many others.

It will be nice if we can share some news positively. Let all cities improve from their current level. It's upto the General Public and the administration to improve their own places. Let's hope that all the cities improve.

Good to see that Madurai IT park approval is in final stages.

Salem-Erode : 1 hour
Salem-Tirupur: 2 hours
Salem-Coimbatore: 3 hurs
Salem-Hosur: 3 hours
Salem-Trichy: 2.5 hours
Salem-Bangalore: 4 hours
Salem-Mettur: 1 hour
I feel 5 hours is longer than these timings. Any comments?
Moreover, Salem itself is a large industrial centre.

Salem -Pondicherry/Cuddalore (nearest port) : 5hrs
Salem - Villupuram :4hrs

I thought Hosur is the gate way of TN from Bglr where most of our big companies are housed. Locational advantage of Madurai means, its the biggest city in Southern Tamilnadu and also for historic reasons as epicentre of Tamil civilisation.
In any case, dont worry Vijayan, all these information will be in the finger tip of TN Govt. officials as well. Its not a secret infortion that 'only' few knows. They will make some plan for Salem too eventually. There are many infrastructural facilities that are present in Madurai, which are even now only as future plan for Salem.
All your logistic explationation about the distance will only help the lorry drivers to pass through Salem not business company to station there. Stratigic location advantage is something different, not just because its in the road to heaven.

I hope the argument on which city is bigger stops. Please only post projects for madurai or discussions about development of Madurai. Every city of TN has its own thread in the SSC forum, so please post other posts in those threads. We have lot to post and discuss for the development of this region, so lets stay focussed on it.

http://www.dqchannels.com/content/space/106120202.asp
“In Madurai, we have identified 50 acre in Chinna Illanthukudi and another 257 acre at Vadapalani village in front of Madurai Kamaraj University,”


China Illanthukudi is the village next to Samanar malai, this is again closer to Madurai Airport towards Pasumalai.

People call it as China Illanthaikudi, dont know which one is right!

I hope the argument on which city is bigger stops. Please only post projects for madurai or discussions about development of Madurai. Every city of TN has its own thread in the SSC forum, so please post other posts in those threads. We have lot to post and discuss for the development of this region, so lets stay focussed on it.

So nice...
The person who started the clash has decided to end the clash!! So funny!

So nice...
The person who started the clash has decided to end the clash!! So funny!

Ok thats it, answer this and go further,

Question for Madurai Veeran: Are you against development of Salem?

Question for gvijayan: Are you against development of Madurai?

If any of your answer is YES, then go ahead. Otherwise stop this in public.

I just wanted to end this but it seems they are pulling me into it. Vijayan i never said anything against salem. The only mistake i did was posting in Salem thread asking for an update on the air deccan flight service. Did that upset you or made you feel offended with. Yourself and Madurai_fanatic were having a go at each other over Madurai or Salem was a better city. I had kept myself aside from the discussion. Now i tried to end this and you have pounced over me.

This would be final reply to you. I dont want any more of this S**t in this thread. Please post only things related to this thread. Please post those excellent advantages Salem has in the Salem thread. Im not against any city. Im doing my sincere bit to post on the developments in Trichy, Madurai and Tuticorin region.

NEW BIOTECH PRODUCT FOUND BY MADURAI GUY


Edible Cottonseed made by Madurai wala, this is big news going around in the world of Biotechnology. This invention could have very big impact in the future food science and feed stock.
Though its not relevant as a project development, its another feather in the cap of Biotech, MKU. Ganesan SunilKumar have given a big boost for MKU which is already famous in US.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/science/21observ.html?ex=1165294800&en=ff33c7a53923bdd1&ei=5070

Madurai Airport traffic statistics

June 2006

Category - Jun 06(05) - % change

Aircraft movement - 422(234) - 80.3

Passengers - 19,205(14,736) - 30.3

Freight(in Ton) - 32(26) - 23.1


July 2006

Category - Jul 06(05) - % change

Aircraft movement - 434(248) - 75

Passengers - 18,044(13,283) - 35.8

Freight(in Ton) - 36(26) - 38.5


August 2006

Category - Aug 06(05) - % change

Aircraft movement - 366(250) - 46.4

Passengers - 18,034(13,850) - 30.2

Freight(in Ton) - 56(28) - 100


April - August 2006

Category - Apr-Aug 06(05) - % change

Aircraft movement - 2024(1216) - 66.4

Passengers - 95,796(71,823) - 33.4

Freight(in Ton) - 205(156) - 31.4


http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/traffic_news.jsp

Aircraft movements is less in August, probably due to the reduction in Air Deccan's frequency. If I am correct, Paramount started its services after that. So, from September it should have a rise. Hope they introduce a direct Bangalore-Madurai flight in the near future as they have gone past their promised time of November.

China Illanthukudi is the village next to Samanar malai, this is again closer to Madurai Airport towards Pasumalai.

People call it as China Illanthaikudi, dont know which one is right!

Good to know this. I was thinking that this place is the one which was identfied earlier at Maattu thaavani. Btw, what happened to that land which the government proposed for Tidel Park.

Also, there is not even a single big news out of SPEED 2006. I haven't seen any message about any big company willing to invest in Madurai post SPEED 2006. This is despite having the FM participate in the function. Sadly, the CM and the Communication and IT Minister have turned their back on this meet. Things are not looking that promising in this aspect.

Apollo Hospitals Group to set up a cancer hospital and expand its existing hospital

MADURAI: Apollo Hospitals Group will set up a $5 million cancer hospital here, along with the California-based Comprehensive Blood Cancer Care Institute.

The Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the partner, and the project will take shape in six months, Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, said on Sunday. She was speaking at a conference on Southern Prosperity Through Enhanced Economic Development (SPEED), organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Madurai was chosen, she said, as it had the talent, and the need for a comprehensive cancer treatment facility in the region.

"As per the agreement, Apollo Group will provide infrastructure support like equipment, while the expertise in cancer care will come from California," she said.

Ms. Reddy, who spoke on `medical tourism and its potential' and the initiatives needed to promote investment in southern districts, said Apollo Speciality Hospitals in Madurai would be expanded owing to the growing demand. It would be made a 500-bed hospital.

As for the urgent steps needed to promote health tourism, she said flight connectivity was a major issue. What Madurai wanted most was an international airport so that foreigners could be tapped for tourism and treatment. Many foreign patients complained of the way in which they were handled at airports. "The potential in the health sector could be explored if bottlenecks were removed," she said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/04/stories/2006120402850500.htm

Good news from the final day of SPEED 2006. A 5 million dollar Apollo cancer hospital and the expansion of the existing apollo speciality hospital to 500 beds.

Good news from the final day of SPEED 2006. A 5 million dollar Apollo cancer hospital and the expansion of the existing apollo speciality hospital to 500 beds.

But how is this related to IT field?

I wont expect any drammatic annoucements now. This is a good showcase esp. about Govt. attitude and preference towards Madurai as Tier II city. This signal will reach the companies at different time point and at necessity. These kind of showcase bring fruits after some years.

But how is this related to IT field?

SPEED 2006 was a conference not related just to IT field. 'Connect Madurai' which was a part of the SPEED 2006 was only related to IT field. They also organised 'Travel Mart Madurai' which was related to tourism, hospitality industry and Medical tourism. And the Apollo Hospitals plan is related to Medical tourism. Ms. Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals had come to SPEED to give a speech on `medical tourism and its potential'. She used this occasion to make public the project for Madurai.

Apollo MD Ms. Reddy's speech on 'Medical Tourism' at SPEED 2006

Ms. Reddy, who spoke on `medical tourism and its potential' and the initiatives needed to promote investment in southern districts, said Apollo Speciality Hospitals in Madurai would be expanded owing to the growing demand. It would be made a 500-bed hospital.

As for the urgent steps needed to promote health tourism, she said flight connectivity was a major issue. What Madurai wanted most was an international airport so that foreigners could be tapped for tourism and treatment. Many foreign patients complained of the way in which they were handled at airports. "The potential in the health sector could be explored if bottlenecks were removed," she said.

Without the basic necessities such as International flights Madurai has attracted more than 2000 foreigners last year on medical tourism (was said by someone in CII or MADITSSIA). The foreigners who come on medical purpose often make visits to tourist places also. Madurai with its heritage tourism already well established has greater chance to become a medical tourism hub.

With Apollo to set up a 5 million $ cancer hospital in the next 6 months, this would be a feather in the cap of Madurai's health care sector.

Introduction of International flights will be great for medical tourism to flourish in madurai .

It's definitely a good news for Madurai from a health care perspective. It's also good that Apollo has raised it's concern on the Flight connectivity to Madurai. It's upto the administration to heed to such requests/demands and start connecting Madurai with various destinations.

Good to know this. I was thinking that this place is the one which was identfied earlier at Maattu thaavani. Btw, what happened to that land which the government proposed for Tidel Park.

Also, there is not even a single big news out of SPEED 2006. I haven't seen any message about any big company willing to invest in Madurai post SPEED 2006. This is despite having the FM participate in the function. Sadly, the CM and the Communication and IT Minister have turned their back on this meet. Things are not looking that promising in this aspect.
Even I was expecting some big announcements by IT companies during this event. Atleast I was expecting some IT companie's big shots will participate. Probably they are not still convinced by the infrastructure here. I guess when the IT park by RR Industries comes in to some shape, maybe companies will consider. When such a huge investment is from a private player, they will surely market their venture aggressively.

Do anybody have more info on the shopping complex by ETL? 100 crore investment seems to be a huge..

Now koodal nagar ROB construction is progressing well and it should be ready in another 2 months.

Arvindm: Do anybody have more info on the shopping complex by ETL? 100 crore investment seems to be a huge..

Land and construction cost ( warm shell) will cost average INR 2500 per sft of construction. This relates to 4 lakhs sft total. Convention Hall and related areas will be 50%. Balance will be Mall area.

Rajya Sabha

The growth rate of air passengers, air cargo and airlines operations in the Non-metro irports in Tamil Nadu in 2005-06 are: 46.7%, 11.4% and 31.1% at Coimbatore; 12.8%, 114.8% and 23.6% at Trichy; and 12.9%, -15.9% and 0.9% at Madurai Airport. This information was given to the Parliament, by Shri Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation.

Work is in progress for extension and strengthening of runway alongwith expansion of apron, additional link taxiway, isolation bay, installation of ILS on runway 27 at Madurai airport. There is also a proposal for construction of a new integrated terminal building with all modern amenities including installation of two aerobridges.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=22755

Even I was expecting some big announcements by IT companies during this event. Atleast I was expecting some IT companie's big shots will participate. Probably they are not still convinced by the infrastructure here. I guess when the IT park by RR Industries comes in to some shape, maybe companies will consider. When such a huge investment is from a private player, they will surely market their venture aggressively.

Do anybody have more info on the shopping complex by ETL? 100 crore investment seems to be a huge..

Now koodal nagar ROB construction is progressing well and it should be ready in another 2 months.

Thanks Arvind. Hope they complete Koodal Nagar ROB atleast by this time. Any idea about Sellur ROB and Ellis Nagar ROB?

Staff Reporter


STANDING BY: K. Ramalingam, Regional Director, Airport Authority of India, in conversation with officials at the Madurai airport after inaugurating new facilities.


MADURAI: A new fire and rescue station, constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.39 crore, was commissioned at the Madurai Airport.

The Regional Director, Airport Authority of India, K. Ramalingam, declared open the new facility along with the isolation bay, constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.4 crore, on Saturday.

The fire station has four modern crash fire tenders, two ambulances and a fire fighting training centre. It has been provided with a watchtower. The isolation bay on 75,000 square feet has been given special lighting facilities.

The Airport Controller M. Suresh and General Manager (Engineering), P.S.R.K. Sudhakar, were present.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/05/stories/2006120505440300.htm

Fire station and Isolation bay constructed at a cost of Rs. 3.8 Crore, commissioned at Madurai airport

Rajya Sabha

The growth rate of air passengers, air cargo and airlines operations in the Non-metro irports in Tamil Nadu in 2005-06 are: 46.7%, 11.4% and 31.1% at Coimbatore; 12.8%, 114.8% and 23.6% at Trichy; and 12.9%, -15.9% and 0.9% at Madurai Airport. This information was given to the Parliament, by Shri Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation.

Work is in progress for extension and strengthening of runway alongwith expansion of apron, additional link taxiway, isolation bay, installation of ILS on runway 27 at Madurai airport. There is also a proposal for construction of a new integrated terminal building with all modern amenities including installation of two aerobridges.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=22755


Isn't this statistics little wierd? How can the Airlines growth be 0.9% when there is almost double the number of flights from the previous year? Air passenger growth seems to be reasonable. Air Cargo growth is in the negative, which is not good. May the runway extension will help here.

Nice to note that two aerobridges are being planned. But, when are these things going to happen?

Thanks Arvind. Hope they complete Koodal Nagar ROB atleast by this time. Any idea about Sellur ROB and Ellis Nagar ROB?

Wasn't the Koodal nagar ROB suppose to be completed by october 06?. That was what Highways Minister, M.P. Saminathan had said in july 2006. Any way i hope atleast they complete in the next 2 months.

Arvind you had stated that the project was going on at a fast pace. Did you actually visit the site?.

The Minister, who reviewed ongoing works in the city, said the Ellis Nagar road over bridge (ROB) would be completed by December. The railway officials were expected to complete their part of work by April 2007. While the Koodal Nagar ROB would be ready by October, land acquisition process was underway for the Sellur ROB.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/11/stories/2006071121690300.htm


What about the Ellis Nagar ROB will they highways dept. complete within the deadline earlier fixed by them(Dec 06)?. What about the work on the bridge by the railways?. Whats the progress on this work?.

Have they acquired land for the Sellur ROB and has the project started?.

A view of Koodal Nagar bridge work. Looks like 95% work done.

Source: Tamil Murasu

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/9497/0311uma012020clrew3.jpg

Wasn't the Koodal nagar ROB suppose to be completed by october 06?. That was what Highways Minister, M.P. Saminathan had said in july 2006. Any way i hope atleast they complete in the next 2 months.

Arvind you had stated that the project was going on at a fast pace. Did you actually visit the site?.



What about the Ellis Nagar ROB will they highways dept. complete within the deadline earlier fixed by them(Dec 06)?. What about the work on the bridge by the railways?. Whats the progress on this work?.

Have they acquired land for the Sellur ROB and has the project started?.

Sellur ROB work had started long time ago (I am not sure exactly when, but definitely 2 years before). On the Goripalayam side, pillars have been constructed 2 years before itself. Due to land acquisition problems, pillars on the other side were not constructed. Despite the government officials, ministers and local politicians inspected the site many times, this Sellur ROB work hasn't gone further as far as I know.

The Koodal Nagar ROB picture has been like that for sometime. Only the bridge above the rail line needs to constructed and has been like that for few months. God knows when that will be completed.

With the way these two ROBs have been lingering, I don't expect Ellis Nagar ROB to complete by Dec '06.

Wasn't the Koodal nagar ROB suppose to be completed by october 06?. That was what Highways Minister, M.P. Saminathan had said in july 2006. Any way i hope atleast they complete in the next 2 months.

Arvind you had stated that the project was going on at a fast pace. Did you actually visit the site?.


I live in Koodal Nagar area. So I am seeing the progress of the ROB every alternate week. (I work in Chennai but visit my family in weekends)


What about the Ellis Nagar ROB will they highways dept. complete within the deadline earlier fixed by them(Dec 06)?. What about the work on the bridge by the railways?. Whats the progress on this work?.

Have they acquired land for the Sellur ROB and has the project started?.

Ellis Nagar and Sellur ROBs will be complated by end of 2007 according to informal sources.

Sellur ROB work had started long time ago (I am not sure exactly when, but definitely 2 years before). On the Goripalayam side, pillars have been constructed 2 years before itself. Due to land acquisition problems, pillars on the other side were not constructed. Despite the government officials, ministers and local politicians inspected the site many times, this Sellur ROB work hasn't gone further as far as I know.
This ROB work is also progressing well now but still long way to go.


The Koodal Nagar ROB picture has been like that for sometime. Only the bridge above the rail line needs to constructed and has been like that for few months. God knows when that will be completed.

Yeah, only the bridge above the rail line was pending for long time. This work finally started a month ago and now they are installing pillars in between rail llines.

Thanks Arvind. Have they started constructing pillars on the Koodal Nagar side of the SELLUR ROB? Have they started putting in the base road over the pillars?

Nice to know the progress in Koodal Nagar ROB. Pl continue to update us about these bridges and any other developments in Madurai.

This ROB work is also progressing well now but still long way to go.


Yeah, only the bridge above the rail line was pending for long time. This work finally started a month ago and now they are installing pillars in between rail llines.

Arvind,
Could you please update on how wide is the bridge.. from the photo it appears that the bridge is resting on a pair of pillars..is that so?..else it would be very narrow...like the bridge in therkuvasal and Madura coats..

I live in Koodal Nagar area. So I am seeing the progress of the ROB every alternate week. (I work in Chennai but visit my family in weekends)



Ellis Nagar and Sellur ROBs will be complated by end of 2007 according to informal sources.

I remember seeing the ellis nagar over bridge photo in Tamil murasu about a month ago... it was almost complete except for the railway part.. and according to railway engineers, they would complete their work by March 2007... Hope they stick to the schedule..

The Koodal Nagar ROB is resting on pair of pillars and this bridge is little more wider than Madurai Coats bridge. The width can accomodate two buses and couple of two wheelers. I wish this bridge should be more wider when new railway station and wholesale market is going to come up in this area apart from existing goods station and container terminal. But the existing width of road is the limitation and this bridge can not be made more wider :(

Thanks Arvind. Have they started constructing pillars on the Koodal Nagar side of the SELLUR ROB? Have they started putting in the base road over the pillars?


I could see pillars are being erected on Thathaneri/koodal nagar side of Sellur ROB but could not get clear picture as the bridge is not coming up on the main road. In sellur side, they are putting the base of the bridge. Pillar installations are over in this side. I guess still it will take min another 6 months to see some shape of this bridge. Also no work has been done so far over rail lines.

I wish a new road should be laid from Sellur (near LIC) to Koodal nagar along the banks of sellur lake. This link road will greatly minimize the distance between koodal nagar and other northern parts of the city. This road will skip both railway lines (or bridges if they are completed) and congested stretch from sellur to fatima college.
When a new railway station and integrated wholesale market is coming up in koodal nagar area, this link road would be a big boon to traffic in this stretch.
Also the same road can be extended to connect Bibikulam area too.

I could see pillars are being erected on Thathaneri/koodal nagar side of Sellur ROB but could not get clear picture as the bridge is not coming up on the main road. In sellur side, they are putting the base of the bridge. Pillar installations are over in this side. I guess still it will take min another 6 months to see some shape of this bridge. Also no work has been done so far over rail lines.

Thanks again Arvind. If this Sellur ROB comes up, this will be the longest in South TN. Hope it clears all the hurdles in another 6 months atleast.

December 05, 2006 11:40 IST

Having a good business environment, abundant availability of skilled manpower and quality educational institutions, Madurai and other southern districts of Tamil Nadu, had a potential to create 50,000 jobs in the information and communication technology sector over next five years.

Addressing Connect Madurai 2006, organised as part of Speed 2006, Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, Connect 2006, said the ICT sector could generate a revenue of Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) to Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) to the local economy, thus triggering the overall growth of the region.

Madurai and other southern districts including Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Ramanathanpuram and Kanniyakumari, could be key contributors to the state in achieving the envisaged target of $25 billion ICT revenue, contributing 25 per cent to the country's IT exports, over the next five years.
At present, the state's ICT revenue is $4 billion, which is 14 per cent of the country's ICT revenue.

Madurai and southern districts produce over 15,000 engineering graduates annually, 6,000 of whom are being hired by companies in Chennai and Bangalore. These districts contribute around 19 per cent of the state's GDP (2003-04).

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/05jobs.htm

I wish a new road should be laid from Sellur (near LIC) to Koodal nagar along the banks of sellur lake. This link road will greatly minimize the distance between koodal nagar and other northern parts of the city. This road will skip both railway lines (or bridges if they are completed) and congested stretch from sellur to fatima college.
When a new railway station and integrated wholesale market is coming up in koodal nagar area, this link road would be a big boon to traffic in this stretch.
Also the same road can be extended to connect Bibikulam area too.

There is a proposal for this road. The plan was to connect the ring road via koodal nagar to Palamedu road. The purpose of this plan was to connect the proposed Lorry guardon at Sikandar savadi and Matuthavani bus stand.

There is also a big residential project in Sikander savadi on hold, waiting for the Koodal nagar ROB competion.

Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov Research & Consulting said that Madurai must adopt a multi pronged strategy. The focus must be on attracting large MNCs like Accenture and IBM, building local entrepreneurship, development of key domain areas such as engineering services, training initiatives to enhance the employability of graduates and branding Madurai, which is equivalent to Athens in terms of architectural planning. Raghuttama Rao, Managing Director, ICRA Management Consulting Services said that Madurai, which has attracted over 90,000 foreign tourists in 2005, and has 2500 beds and 40 hospitals including the world class Apollo and Aravind Eye Hospital, have the inherent advantage to promote medical tourism. He said that the city has established tourist centres, good access to culture heritage and cost advantage.



Preeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, said that the Group is planning to set up a medical facility with a US tie-up at an investment of US$ 5 million in the city. It is also joining hands with the US based Johns Hopkins to create a teaching facility in the next few years.


http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=21321&lmn=1

I live in Koodal Nagar area. So I am seeing the progress of the ROB every alternate week. (I work in Chennai but visit my family in weekends)

Arvind, since you visit Madurai often, please try to post some pictures of projects under progress. It would be of great help to all the forumers.

Thanks for keeping us updated on the progress of the 3 ROB.

I desire dat ELT should start d works in madurai atleast n not stop wit d announcements alone....... Bcoz d thing has happened for coimbatore-ELT proposed a project for cbe wit some 7-10 foor building IT park b4 2 yrs itself but till now no signs of construction.

[QUOTE=madurai veeran;10739721]A view of Koodal Nagar bridge work. Looks like 95% work done.

Source: Tamil Murasu

Just a funny story, that happened during early this year, about this bridge as my home is in Koodal Nagar too.
An auto driver (got to be boozed may be) drove through the bridge at dark thinking that the bridge is finished and hopped from the bridge and safely landed on the railway line. The auto was not affected but the driver fainted and managed to drive after some time. The people who saw the incident expected very horrible.

View of the Koodal Nagar ROB construction

Difficult times for the commuters. Hope the railways finishes the middle portion ASAP.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5471/picwy7.jpg

Post #478 is an old picture, probably 3 months ago. Post #477 seems to be the latest one. Both the pictures give a good idea about the progress, though it's not a great progress. Nice to see the difference in #477 which shows some progress towards building the bridge over the Rail Line part.

Post #478 is an old picture, probably 3 months ago. Post #477 seems to be the latest one. Both the pictures give a good idea about the progress, though it's not a great progress. Nice to see the difference in #477 which shows some progress towards building the bridge over the Rail Line part.

No dear, its just different angle. The later new picture in post 461 is taken from Railar nagar. while the other one, post 478 is taken right infront of the railway gate. There is no progress except the installation of the metal grids.

No dear, its just different angle. The later new picture in post 461 is taken from Railar nagar. while the other one, post 478 is taken right infront of the railway gate. There is no progress except the installation of the metal grids.

I was implying that "Metal Grids" as the little progress which will be used for completing the bridge over the Rail line.

I was implying that "Metal Grids" as the little progress which will be used for completing the bridge over the Rail line.

The first picture was taken sometime in november and the latter one was taken around 3 months before it. As Madurai said there seems to be some work going on at the center portion over the railway lines.

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/4915/2006120605470301dc3.jpg

MADURAI: The Madurai Airport has been witnessing a whopping 35 per cent growth rate in number of passengers handled since April this year.As many as 21,987 passengers passed through Madurai Airport during May.

It has handled as many as 1,33,948 passengers in seven months (April-October) as against 1,79,362 passengers in the previous 12 month period. The Airports Authority of India statistics show that every month an average of 5,000 additional passengers travel by air when compared to the corresponding period the previous year.

The airfare war among competitors that has drastically reduced the fares in recent times is one of the prime reasons for this sudden spurt. Low cost airliners offer a competitive fare when compared to rail journey in air-conditioned coaches, said M. Suresh, Madurai Airport Controller.

Apart from reduced airfare, a boom in economy and people becoming time conscious had contributed to the increase in number of air passengers, said N. Sriram, a leading travel agent. "The low cost airliner, Air Deccan, is attracting at least two to three first-time fliers every day."

Double the flights now

The total of number of flight services being operated from the airport that doubled to eight since April this year only helped to increase the passenger patronage.

Only Indian (Indian Airlines), Jet Airways (two services) and Air Deccan have been operating flights between Chennai and Madurai till April this year.

More players

Later, Paramount Airways added three flights (including one Madurai-Chennai-Bangalore) and Air Deccan one (Madurai-Bangalore) service.

"Even the Bangalore flights are doing well. The timings of morning / evening flights work in tandem allowing a businessman to leave Madurai in the morning, complete his work through the day and return the same evening," Mr. Sriram said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/06/stories/2006120605470300.htm

Nice to know that the Madurai - Bangalore flights are doing well too. Hope the governments shows some care towards speeding up the Terminal construction and setting up customs facility to facilitate international flights to/from Madurai.

I am assuming that the Madurai-Chennai flights enjoy good patronage when the report mentions that "Even" Bangalore flights are doing well.

This is despite having 7 flights a day between Madurai and Chennai. Also, there are about 600+ AC seats that are getting filled daily in trains if we count all the trains and their Madurai-Chennai quota.

So, there is still tremendous potential for more flights between Madurai and Chennai.

deleted

I live in Koodal Nagar area. So I am seeing the progress of the ROB every alternate week. (I work in Chennai but visit my family in weekends)



Ellis Nagar and Sellur ROBs will be complated by end of 2007 according to informal sources.

Arvind,
Since you live in the Koodal Nagar Area.. could you please give an update on the progress of the Railway Station works.. is there any signs of trains being introduced from koodal Nagar railway station.. if so Madurai would be proud to have 2 major railway stations..(though you have many minor stations at stone's throw away distance like..Madurai East, Thiruparankundram..Kappalur..did i miss any??)

Arvind,
Since you live in the Koodal Nagar Area.. could you please give an update on the progress of the Railway Station works.. is there any signs of trains being introduced from koodal Nagar railway station.. if so Madurai would be proud to have 2 major railway stations..(though you have many minor stations at stone's throw away distance like..Madurai East, Thiruparankundram..Kappalur..did i miss any??)
Hi, I did not get a chance to visit koodal nagar railway station.. I heard that platform is being built. I dont think any station terminal building work has been started. The actual plan is to build another Railway station to decongest Madurai Junction in future. This may not be a priority work for railways as they are able to manage with the existing junction. For future growth, this new station may be coming up in its own pace... In near future, it may not be a full fledged railway station but only trains will halt for some time (like tirupparankunram station). When a proper railway station is built, some trains may start from here.
Selvam, since you too live in Koodla Nagar, do you have any info on this?
-Arvind

The jist of the article:
> The topic itself is "Come to Madurai to turn Sand to Gold"
> Apartment culture is picking up at a very rapid pace..
(They mention on how Agrini with about 640 units got sold out..and that even in chennai you dont have such a big township..)
> Lots of new apartments coming up at the outskirts and they seem to sell out quickly..
> The north part of madurai is richer.. and in annanagar price is Rs. 7 lakhs/cent!!!
> Lands have been sold out until 30 kms at the madurai-natham road..
the land prices near highcourt is Rs.1200/sqft natham road..Rs.1500 /sqft.
> The land near Ring road are selling at high prices.
> Real Estate builders from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai.. are begining to target madurai..
(I too remember reading that HDFC madurai manager stating 'some ppl from north was interested in buying major junk of land' during the 'Destination Madurai' Real estate fair conducted by HDFC..)

Infrastructure investment must grow by 50%: FM

India Infoline News Service / Mumbai Dec 05, 2006 11:34

The Minister has urged the Tamil Nadu Govt to speed up the completion of Nanguneri SEZ

"Investment is the only instrument to sustain the current economic growth of over 8% at least for the next 10-15 years. There should be a 50% growth in investment every year in order to upgrade the physical infrastructure, which is currently not adequate to cope up with the fast economic growth," said P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Finance, Govt. of India. He also urged the State Government of Tamil Nadu to speed up the Nanguneri Special Economic Zone project and focus on upgrading the educational and social infrastructure of the seven southern districts of the State to attract fresh investment.



Delivering the Special Address at SPEED 2006, a Conference on “Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development”, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday, Chidambaram said that the Indian economy, which was primarily driven by demand and consumption till 2003, has begun to experience an investment-led growth. In 2003-04, the investment grew by 23.25%. In 2004-05, it went up by 36% and in 2005-2006 by 57%.



Talking about the ways for the economic prosperity of the Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram urged the State Government to speed up the completion of Nanguneri SEZ, as it is important for the region to have a multi-product SEZ to leverage the Tuticorin Port infrastructure. He said that the industrialists of the Southern Districts should take up the cause of the speedy implementation of the Nanguneri SEZ.



The Finance Minister also urged the State to allocate more funds to improve the social infrastructure of education, sanitation, power and water supply of southern districts that are behind the State average in many social indicators. Though, the southern districts have over 11,000 schools and around 46 engineering colleges, there is a need to focus on the quality of education and training. He said that the Government is hoping to upgrade the training infrastructure of over 500 polytechnics in the country to world standards and hand over the management of these polytechnics to private sector by 2007-08.



Chidambaram attributed the slow economic progress of the region to the delays in infrastructure up gradation. For a long time, there were no broad gauge train services in the region beyond Madurai. Though, the broad gauge conversion is expected to be completed at Pudukottai by December and at Karaikudi by next March, the conversion must be extended to Manamadurai and Rameswaram. The four-laning of national highways must be speeded up.



T Kannan, Chairman, SPEED 2006, in his opening remarks, said that SPEED has offered a roadmap for economic development in the southern region comprising 7 districts; brought out various focus areas and identified hubs, satellites and corridors. He said that the SPEED model would reach the economic benefits of the country to the interior parts of southern districts. He hoped that Government of Tamil Nadu, which is ranked 3rd in terms of FDI, will step up the marketing of the southern districts within the country and abroad to attract big ticket investments in the region.



Pradipta K Mohapatra, Deputy Chairman, CII - Southern Region said that marking the moving away of centralised planning, thrust must be given on the formation of a Southern Districts Development Authority with the participation of Central, State Government and Private sector that will take ownership of the development of the region. He pointed out that Madurai has a huge potential in IT and ITeS industries and Sivaganga in tourism industry. Sivanga has over 500 heritage houses, out of which only 30 are exploited. If the potential of heritage tourism can be tapped, the city can effectively compete with Rajasthan, which is thriving on palace tours.

R Dinesh, Co-Chairman, SPEED 2006 said that sustaining investment through skill development, infrastructure planning and tourism promotion are important for the growth of the region. There must be a long-term vision and implementation schedule to take up the projects on PPP model.



He said that there is a need to evolve a Master Plan with regard to the development of arterial roads connecting Madurai and other hubs to create confidence among the investing community. Adequate stress must be given on the multi-modal approach for passenger and freight movement using roads and railways. He also pointed out the need for a 10-year Master Plan and a Vision Document for the growth of tourism, cultural and economic prosperity of the region.



N K Raghupathy, IAS, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust said that the Tuticorin port has a very clean berth and harbour waters, which are the basic requirements for the promotion of cruise tourism. However, the industry must evolve a tourism package involving Madurai to get the tourists venture out of ships. He said that it is important to speed up several inner harbour development projects, importantly the Rs. 450 crore project of dredging of the dock basin and channel to cater 12.80 m draught vessels.



Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov Research & Consulting said that Madurai must adopt a multi pronged strategy. The focus must be on attracting large MNCs like Accenture and IBM, building local entrepreneurship, development of key domain areas such as engineering services, training initiatives to enhance the employability of graduates and branding Madurai, which is equivalent to Athens in terms of architectural planning. Raghuttama Rao, Managing Director, ICRA Management Consulting Services said that Madurai, which has attracted over 90,000 foreign tourists in 2005, and has 2500 beds and 40 hospitals including the world class Apollo and Aravind Eye Hospital, have the inherent advantage to promote medical tourism. He said that the city has established tourist centres, good access to culture heritage and cost advantage.



Preeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, said that the Group is planning to set up a medical facility with a US tie-up at an investment of US$ 5 million in the city. It is also joining hands with the US based Johns Hopkins to create a teaching facility in the next few years

http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=21321&lmn=1

Hi, I did not get a chance to visit koodal nagar railway station.. I heard that platform is being built. I dont think any station terminal building work has been started. The actual plan is to build another Railway station to decongest Madurai Junction in future. This may not be a priority work for railways as they are able to manage with the existing junction. For future growth, this new station may be coming up in its own pace... In near future, it may not be a full fledged railway station but only trains will halt for some time (like tirupparankunram station). When a proper railway station is built, some trains may start from here.
Selvam, since you too live in Koodla Nagar, do you have any info on this?
-Arvind
I am living abroad for past 6 yrs, the informations that I get is only by phone with reference to the business issues.
I know that Koodal Nagar Railway station had become the station for Goods Rail Terminus long before. All the non-express trains stop at Koodal Nagar, but have no idea about other plans. But I can enquire about it.

An agreement to set up a major power transmission line between India and Sri Lanka is likely to be inked early next year that would link two cities well known for their temples and religious festivals — Madurai in Tamil Nadu in the southern state of India and Anuradhapura an ancient city in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.

According to senior Power Ministry officials a high voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission line between the two cities would be set up at a cost of Rs 2000 crore. Power Secretaries of the two countries have agreed to prepare a feasibility report for Madurai-Anuradhapura by month end.

Once completed it would be the second major regional transmission line from India, in addition to Bhutan.

Power Secretary RV Shahi told Hindustan Times "A task force comprising of representatives of the Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority and the PGCIL and their counterparts in Sri Lanka will study the feasibility report prepared by the PGCIL and make recommendations to the Steering Committee."

For more ....

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1860601,0008.htm

guy's i just found out madurai is just 300 odd kilometres away from colombo!!:)

guy's i just found out madurai is just 300 odd kilometres away from colombo!!:)

I was also looking in this regard but with respect to the Indo-Lanka bridge proposal. At the closest point the distance between the two countries is less than 20 kms. What happened to this proposal?. During JJ period this project was opposed by her and hence was dropped.

http://www.business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=1&leftindx=1&subLeft=1&autono=266946

The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) is in the process of setting up a 1,000-acre industrial park in Madurai, which could be later converted into a 2,500 acre special economic zone, said Shaktikanta Das, secretary, (industries), Government of Tamil Nadu.

The state government is also in talks with industry for setting up a textile park in the southern district.

Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day Conference-cum-Exhibition, SPEED (Southern Prosperity through Enhanced Economic Development), 2006, being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Das said that though the government was basically focusing on promoting Chennai in order not to lose investments to other states, it was making sincere efforts to take some of the projects that were being planned in the state to other parts also.

He added that the state government was able to convince a Taiwan-based shoe manufacturer to put up its factory in Cheyyar.

Stating that the government was looking at upgrading the ports, airports and the road infrastructure in the southern districts.

The government was working on a strategy paper to promote partnerships between educational institutions and local industry to enhance the employability level of students, he added.

He also pointed out that the completion of Sethusamudrum project would create a lot of business opportunities in the southern districts in the future.

Quoting a government of India statistics, Das said that about 318 projects involving an investment of Rs 11,500 crore were in the pipeline by way of Industrial Entrepreneurship Memorandums (IEMs), letter of intents and industrial licences.

These are expected to create 1.6 lakh jobs both directly and indirectly. The state government was hoping to get at least 50 per cent of the total investments, he said.

guy's i just found out madurai is just 300 odd kilometres away from colombo!!:)

They say we can actually see Ceylon from top of Trichy SriRangam temple. Is it true? Is it possible?

They say we can actually see Ceylon from top of Trichy SriRangam temple. Is it true? Is it possible?

Yes it is true in a way, but they used to have a telescope. I am not sure if they still have it. My cousins had told me this before.

http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ringroadjo0.png

A news article in Dinamalar says that Ring road is to be handed over to NHAI for four laning..
http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ringroadjo0.png

Dinamalar and Dinakaran have posted two articles contrasting to each other regarding the industrialization of South TN..

In a way both are correct!!!

Dinamalar highlights about all the investments happening around chennai
and Dinakaran collectively lists the investment plans in Madurai...

Dinamalar - http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4780/dinamalarnewsvv6.jpg

Dinakaran - http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dinakarannewsso5.jpg


(Zoom in to view..)

Dinamalar and Dinakaran have posted two articles contrasting to each other regarding the industrialization of South TN..

In a way both are correct!!!

Dinamalar highlights about all the investments happening around chennai
and Dinakaran collectively lists the investment plans in Madurai...

Dinamalar - http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4780/dinamalarnewsvv6.jpg

Dinakaran - http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dinakarannewsso5.jpg


(Zoom in to view..)

Nice contrasting reports. These reports very well show the biased attitude of those dailies. Dinakaran, as expected, has given all the positive aspects and exaggarated their predictions about Madurai, while their own political big shots failed to attend SPEED 2006, so much for the Tier-II cities concept.

Dinamalar, on the expected lines, criticized about projects coming to Chennai alone. I too agree the contents related to that. But, what were they doing when the previous government failed to do anything for the South. Infact, the previous government opposed SSCP too. Where did Dinamalar go? What did they do for Nanguneri SEZ?

Those dailies report something like this, kindling people's interest and laughing all the way to the bank.