Madurai and Trichy region

[MaduraiSelvam]

Thread to post the development and projects coming up in Madurai and Trichy region

[MaduraiSelvam]

CII lines up series of events to showcase Tiruchi

Special Correspondent

CEOs summit, job fair in the offing

TIRUCHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has lined up a series of events, including a CEOs summit, a corporate job fair and a tourism festival in the city over the next 12 months as part of its efforts to showcase Tiruchi's growth potential.

The CEOs summit, scheduled for June, would be among the major initiatives to turn the attention of corporates and the industry to development prospects in Tiruchi, which has already emerged as a major centre for power-equipment manufacturing and fabrication. The CII would follow it up with a three-day job fair in the second quarter of this fiscal to benefit the human resource talent pool of the region. About 60 to 70 corporates and 5,000 youths are expected to participate in the fair.

With tourism being another prospective growth area, the CII has decided to organise `Tiruchi festival' in January 2007, coinciding with the peak tourist season and harvest festival, the Vice-Chairman of the CII, Tiruchi zone, B.V. Ramanan, told media persons here on Saturday. An agricultural conclave, `Agricon,' with the theme on `Agripreneurship,' will be held this year, he said.

Lecture series


The CII would also host a lecture series, `Inspiration,' by eminent personalities from the industry and corporate sector, zonal chairman M.P. Ramaswamy said. The first lecture of the series was delivered by CII Vice-President R. Seshasayee, who earlier declared open the new office of the CII's zonal office in the city.

Mr. Seshasayee said the CII was looking at issues concerning every region and taking advocacy measures. There was no reason for Tiruchi to be left behind given its inherent strengths. Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth was part of the CII's focus areas.It was working with the State government on equitable growth and four sectors — information technology, automobile, construction and textile — had been identified not only as growth areas but also as sectors that required attention, the State chairman, B. Santhanam, said.

Energex 2005, hosted by the CII here, had drawn attention at the national level and the production capacity of energy equipment manufacturing industry here was all set to double soon, Mr. Ramaswamy said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/12/stor...1211280100.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Hasbro Clothing Pvt Ltd expects to ramp up its presence in tier II cities by setting up stores in Salem, Madurai and Kozikhode by May 2006.

http://www.business-standard.com/com...&autono=218332

[kronik]

does the amount of urban infrastructure in the regions justify a seperate thread?

what are the new buildings coming up? are there new townships? new civic projects?

[MaduraiSelvam]

The Sethusamuthiram project is headquartered at Tuticorin is airconnected and raod to Madurai, The proposed Aviation University in Madurai, The Biotech park in Madurai and Mandapam, etc.

This region is definitely not as Chennai or Coimbatore in TN, but its definitely better than Visak.

[MaduraiSelvam]

Jaya moots aviation varsity at Madurai

DH New Service Chennai:

Citing the boom in air traffic, Jayalalitha said an aviation university would be crucial in meeting the demands for trained personnel.



Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider the setting up of an aviation university in Madurai in the light of the boom in domestic and international services.

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”.

She assured the Prime Minister that the state government would extend full support to the proposal if he gave his approval.


Making out the case for the university, Ms Jayalalitha referred to the buoyant growth in air traffic in India and the Centre’s plan to build world class airports at New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

In such a scenario, an academic institution was needed to train airport managers, air traffic controllers, navigation and communication engineers and airport safety personnel, she said.

Simultaneously, the training facilities in the public sector had to be upgraded and refurbished to cater to the demand for trained personnel and to counter the phenomenon of technological obsolescence.

Ms Jayalalitha said at present, there were only isolated flying clubs and institutes like the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy at Rae Bareli, “which cater to a minuscule requirements of training pilots”.

“There is a yawning gap in the supply of trained personnel which needs to be corrected,” Ms Jayalalitha said.

The chief minister said Madurai would be an ideal location for the university as the airport was free from fog and it was away from the busy air corridors. The runway could be expanded from the present 5,500 ft to 7,000 ft. At present, only Airbus A-320s operated from and to this airport. If the runway was extended, bigger craft could land. There was abundant land near the airport to support the setting up of technical and educational facilities of the aviation university, she added.

Ms Jayalalitha said an aviation university, built to international standards with affiliation to a similar university abroad, would attract a considerable number of students both from within the country and abroad. The affiliation with the Federal Aviation Authority of US would enable the certification of educational and technical facilities, she added

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanhe...2238200586.asp

[kvijayasundaram]

Originally Posted by MaduraiSelvam

The Sethusamuthiram project is headquartered at Tuticorin is airconnected and raod to Madurai, The proposed Aviation University in Madurai, The Biotech park in Madurai and Mandapam, etc.

This region is definitely not as Chennai or Coimbatore in TN, but its definitely better than Visak.

MS,
With all due respect, I strongly object your statement.
Vizag, has a host of major industries
like HPCL refiney, a Major port ( a second port is already in the making), A Major steel plant by central govt, Essar's steel plant and a handful of major Fertilizer and chemical factories. Apart from this Vizag also boasts of a Export processing zone. This apart, Vizag is seeing explosive growth in YSR govt especially in IT/ITES (satyam and wipro), auto, pharma and tourism Industries.Vizag's Impressive list keeps on growing day by day..

unfortunately madurai does not have any noteworthy investments and is grossly underdeveloped for a city of its size. All madurai has is couple of textile mills and some investments made by TVS group a few decades ago. And more recently Honeywell had announced some investment in Madurai.
Sadly, the nation's IT/ITES boom has virtually untouched cities like madurai and Trichy. What Madurai lacks is a huge central investment in some sunrise industry that would spur the growth of ancillary industries.

[goldies]

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today urged the Centre to seriously consider converting Madurai airport as an international airport considering its huge growth potential in various sectors, including tourism and business.

Source

[MaduraiSelvam]

International flights to operate from Madurai
Madurai, Mar. 29 (PTI): International flight operations from Madurai airport would begin in June 2006, Congress MP N S V Chitthan said here tonight.


Participating in a function organised to hand over the report prepared by Price WaterHouse Coopers in this regard for the Confederation of Indian Industries here tonight,he said Union Minister of state for Civil aviation Praful Patel had given an assurance on International flights being operated from here Chitthan recalled that he had told Parliament that the infrastructure at the airport now was adequate to operate international flights and that many people, who had settled in places like Malaysia, Singapore and Srilanka were from in and around Madurai.


T Kannan, past Chairman CII(SR) and Managing Director of Thiagarajar Mills, said there was no need to study the potential of Madurai airport and expressed confidence that any international flight operated from Madurai to Gulf countries and Sri Lanka would be full from day one. All passengers coming to Madurai from Mumbai were from Gulf countries,he said.


T Johnson,Immediate Past Chairman,CII,Madurai zone, said Southern districts had their merits to attract industries and tourists. This would be possible if there were more air links.
http://www.hindu.com/holnus/004200603292231.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Expo showcases Madurai as IT destination

The Madurai District Tiny And Small Scale Industries Association (Maditssia), in association with engineering colleges in and around Madurai, showcased the city as an emerging IT destination at the international exhibition — IndiaSoft 2006, held at the Chennai Trade Centre recently.

The stall put at the exhibition was visited by both Indian delegates and foreign participants belonging to 16 countries.

The delegates, particularly from Vietnam and UK, expressed interest in opening their development centres in Madurai. A visitor from UK was keen to collaborate with engineering colleges and establish an electronics industry in Madurai.

Agile One of Singapore has said that on receipt of detailed profile on areas suitable for IT park, a team of builders who are now building the IT park-II at Chennai and one in Kolkata, would be sent to Madurai for a final survey, according to the Maditssia President, Mr S. Aravind.

High-level officials from the Communications and Information Technology Ministry and the Software Technology Park of India have requested Maditssia to give the details of engineering colleges which can offer either 1 lakh build up area or minimum 25 acres of land for establishing an IT park.

On receiving the data, they assured to begin work on building the IT park at Madurai.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...3002701900.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Chamber seeks land from MK University to establish `IT Park'

MADURAI : The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sought allotment of 25 acres of land from Madurai Kamaraj University for establishing an `Information Technology Park' here.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/01/s...0112560100.htm

Government planning an IT park in Madurai


Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran has revealed that the government has plans to establish an IT park in the city of Madurai if the state government can arrange land for this purpose.

He was speaking at the occasion of the launch of a stamp of freedom fighter N M R Subbaraman. Maran recalled the promise he made to the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president S Rethinavelu to establish an IT park in the city.

Rethinavelu on the government’s behalf has assured of a property near the Madurai Kamaraj University. However, Maran is insisting on a location, which is closer to the main city. He said in a statement: “Even if it is five acres, it should be very near to the city or in the city’s main area.”

He further added that the government would start the work on the development of the IT Park in the city if at least one-lakh sq feet were offered in the city. Tamil Nadu is emerging as a hot destination for the IT companies with Microsoft and Nokia showing interest in establishing their bases here.

http://news.techwhack.com/3086/gover...rk-in-madurai/

[MaduraiSelvam]

Major infrastructure projects in the pipeline for Tiruchi this year

Railway Ministry has given nod for three new road over bridges: Mayor

TIRUCHI: The Tiruchi Corporation rings in the New Year with a hope of getting some of its major infrastructure projects cleared by the Union Ministries of Railways, and Urban Development soon.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/01/s...0120070100.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Madurai airport set for major revamp
By Indo Asian News Service

Chennai, March 21 (IANS) The Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu is to be upgraded to a world- class facility in a phased manner at a total cost of Rs.1.5 billion ($33.7 million), a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said Tuesday.

'We have the infrastructure in place, only customs need to be positioned at Madurai for it to become a full-fledged international airport,' K. Ramalingam, regional executive director of the AAI, told media persons here.

The plan envisages Madurai to be designated as an international airport and a major south Asian transit hub in the Indian hinterland within five years.

The official was speaking at the release of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report sponsored by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to study the traffic potential of Madurai airport, about 500km south of here.

PWC's brief was to estimate the traffic potential of the Madurai and Tuticorin airports over the next 20 years. The study took into account the international and domestic air traffic for both passengers and cargo.

'It was observed that significant portions of air travellers from Tiruchirapally and Chennai airports (both international airports) belong to south Tamil Nadu,' the study stated.

In 2001, passenger traffic at Madurai was 90,800 and grew to 158,000 in 2005. The cargo traffic at the airport grew from 322.25 tonnes to 425 tonnes in the same period.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060321/43/6338t.html

International status for Madurai airport sought

Conversion of Madurai airport into an international airport needs serious consideration from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India.

If it is accorded international status there would be potential for establishing connectivity to Gulf, Singapore and Sri Lanka on a twice- or thrice-a-week basis, according to a report done by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the CII.

The airport handled 1.58 lakh passengers in 2004-05 compared with 1.22 lakh in the previous year. The cargo handled was 425 tonnes (428 tonnes). There is scope for increasing passenger traffic to 3.01 lakh ( domestic and international) in 2006 and 6.15 lakh in 2011, the report said.

Logical approach

PwC used a logical approach for estimating the traffic potential at Madurai airport. The report was built around aviation trends, income and GDP growth, trends in rail traffic and possible conversion of rail passengers to air travel, tourism growth and impact of low-cost aviation. It obtained data from secondary sources and discussions with stakeholders.

According to the report, international cargo potential at Madurai airport was 1,339 tonnes in 2006, which would increase to 2,098 tonnes in the next five years. The domestic cargo potential was 489 tonnes in 2006 and would go up to 862 tonnes by 2011. A substantial volume, mostly perishables, from Madurai's hinterland is routed through Tiruchi and Thiruvananthapuram.

http://www.blonnet.com/2006/03/23/st...2300051900.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Madurai holds big potential for air traffic growth

CHENNAI, MARCH 21: The domestic and international air traffic from and to Madurai is estimated to grow to 6.15 lakh from the 3.01 lakh now. It may touch 15.30 lakh by 2026. Total cargo potential is also expected to go up to 2960 tonnes by 2011 from the current 1642 tonnes. It may reach 7224 tonnes by 2026.
These are some of the findings of the study conducted by PriceWaterhouse Coopers for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tamil Nadu. The study was released here on Tuesday.

The government would be investing Rs 150 crore in a phased manner to upgrade Madurai airport. This would enable the airport to handle 24 flights daily, enough to meet the projected traffic in the short and medium term. With additional investments the airport can be converted into an international airport.

The increase in air traffic is an impact of low cost aviation which helps in converting train traffic to air, says the study.

A significant proportion of air travellers from Trichy and Chennai belong to southern Tamil Nadu.

Tourism growth in Madurai was likely with the promotion of niche tourism products such as ‘medical tourism’, and ‘chartered tourism’ as well as the initiative of the government to promote tourism in Tamil Nadu as a whole.

The air traffic is also set to grow thanks to the industrial growth of Madurai and its hinterland.

The prospects for IT and ITES industries, the expansion of rubber, textiles and autocomponents units, and development of industrial clusters around the port city of Tuticorin are also catalysers for increased passenger and cargo traffic through Madurai.

[MaduraiSelvam]

An event to showcase a multi-faceted city

3rd edition of `Madurai Mystique' coming to town

MADURAI: There is no doubt that this city, a cultural hotspot of Tamil Nadu, if given the right impetus, will spur industrial and economic growth. Madurai has all the inherent advantages to become a class tourism destination, being home to world-renowned Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Thirumalai Nayak Palace and other edifices.

The city is also becoming a centre for medical tourism through the efforts of many renowned city hospitals. Currently efforts are on to convert Madurai airport into an international airport eventually linking the city with Singapore, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and cities in the Middle East.

In an effort to promote Madurai as an international tourist destination, showcasing it as a gateway for Tamil culture and attracting more visitors and investors, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Madurai zone will organise the third edition of `Madurai Mystique 2006,' a conference-cum-exposition on investment opportunity in tourism sector at Hotel Sangam on January 28 and 29.

The agenda


The objective of the two-day event is to promote and reinforce Madurai as the `Gateway to heritage and culture' and create awareness of the various facets of the Temple City. Students will participate in a paper presentation competition on tourism and the first three winners will be awarded with cash prizes of Rs.3,000, Rs.2,000 and Rs.1,000.

The event will deal with various topics, including Madurai as gateway to culture and heritage, as tourism hub, infrastructure development-a key enabler for tourism growth, and panel discussion on the road ahead.

P. Mohan, Member of Parliament, will inaugurate `Madurai Mystique' while Karumuttu T. Kannan, Managing Director, Thiagarajar Mills Ltd, D. Raajendiran, District Collector, D.J. Dinakkaren, Commissioner, Madurai Corporation, R. Venkatraman, retired professor of Art History, Madurai Kamaraj University, Perumalsamy, Assistant Director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, will participate.

The event will also provide an opportunity for tourism and allied industries to showcase products and services offered by them to the public through an exposition, which will run concurrently at the same venue. The earlier editions of `Madurai Mystique' were held during 2002 and 2004.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/27/s...2704570200.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

CII launches SME `cluster' in Madurai

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Bonding for the better
The Madurai Cluster comprises about ten SMEs geographically located in and around Madurai and includes units from castings, bakery products, rubber moulded components, industrial fabrics etc.
The companies will receive in the next 12 months intervention support from the CII in the areas of energy management, manufacturing excellence and total cost management.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...1303111500.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Ford opens new dealership facility in Madurai

Ford India inaugurated its Brand@Retail dealership facility `Akshaya Ford' at Thanakankulam, near here, on Saturday.

The integrated 3-S facility (sales, service and spares) built according to Ford's global standards includes a children's play area, a customer lounge, 30 bays for mechanical service, a fully equipped mechanical and spares centre and a 24-hour help line for vehicular assistance. The facility would cater to customers in Madurai, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Theni, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar.

http://www.blonnet.com/2006/03/21/st...2103460700.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

PC World Aims for 50pc Growth in Business

By Shantheri Mallaya
Bangalore, Jan 26, 2006

Buoyed by the boom in PC business in Madurai, PC World hopes to achieve a growth of 50 percent in business this year. The Madurai-based distributor and retailer also hopes to cross the Rs 20-crore mark for the next fiscal.

According to Selvaraj, partner, PC World, "The purchasing power in Madurai has been on the upswing. Awareness of IT has increased and people are no more money-minded. The number of walk-ins to our showroom has now increased to an average of about 15-20 a day from a mere 7-10 earlier."

PC World, which has been in the business since 1988, offers comprehensive IT solutions.

A recipient of many awards, PC World is looking at corporate tieups for stepping up its solutions and high-end server business this year. Selvaraj confirmed that they had recently tied up with IBM to provide software solutions such as Lotus Notes, etc.

The company plans to add some new products to its existing portfolio. Selvaraj said that these announcements will be made in the next few months.

On its immediate business focus, Selvaraj said, "The focus area for business till April 2006 would not be on the SOHO segment as summer would usher in revenues from the student community and other home users."

[MaduraiSelvam]

Small Cities to Call Shots in BPO Growth in ' 06

Times News Network
Pune
It's not cybercities like Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune that will fuel the BPO-KPO boom in '06. Smaller cities-the likes of Jodhpur, Mohali, Nagpur, Patiala, and Madurai-are set to emerge as attractive destinations for outsourcing.

http://www.bpo.nasscom.org/artdispla...928&cat_id=572

India's smaller cities are booming

Some highlights for Madurai boom...

And retailers are just the latest to join the small town bandwagon. A recent study puts the total amount of built-up property coming up in these towns at 7-8 million sq ft: most of it IT, commercial and retail. The cities in the reckoning are state capitals like Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal and Jammu. Other smaller cities like Mysore, Kochi, Madurai, Vizag, Cuttack, Ludhiana, Nagpur and Aurangabad are catching up fast.

The last year has seen IT majors such as IBM, Dell, Cognizant and Satyam unveiling plans for cities like Coimbatore, Mangalore and Vizag. Wipro and TCS have acquired land at Vizag, while Honeywell is looking at expanding operations in Madurai.

http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/25spec1.htm

[MaduraiSelvam]

Aroma therapy for jasmine growers

The `Madurai Malli' has gone French. Driven by perfumeries in France and Australia, among a host of others, the number of units processing the jasmine flower grown in and around Madurai has grown to 15 from just three a couple of years back.

These units covert flowers into paste (called concrete) and a liquid form (called absolute) for a variety of applications, but primarily for perfumes, made in France. Alongside, domestic demand is also picking up for use in soaps, agarbattis (incense sticks) and even ghutka.

While the price for jasmine paste stands at around $ 550 per kg in the export market, in the domestic market, it's about $100 less, where the quality demanded is also lower, according to industry players. France, of course, demands the highest quality, followed by Australia, they say. Interestingly, Australians show preference for `absolutes' which means more `value addition', they said.

The flavour and fragrance market, as a whole, is estimated to be $ 20 billion globally. The market size of natural raw materials like rose, jasmine, etc, is estimated to be $ 900m. Natural raw materials account for 13% of the total raw material used.

However, the key driver of the industry around the temple town is the supply of `Madurai Malli', popular among south Indians for its unique fragrance. The production of the paste is mostly a function of the price of flowers, which again is determined by its supply." It becomes unviable for us to buy jasmine if the rate goes beyond Rs 20 a kilogram," say N Jegatheesan, who owns a flower processing company. About 850 kg of jasmine flowers yields a kilogram of jasmine paste. The 15 units have capacities ranging from 3 tonnes a day to 15 tonnes a day, with 5 dealing with the export markets.

For jasmine paste, the cost of the raw material could take up to 60% of the sale price, which makes it unviable beyond Rs 20 per kg. Additionally, the processing equipment could cost around Rs 1 cr.

The price of jasmine flowers can be volatile. It changes daily depending on rains, and a few other factors. Even within a single day, the prices vary, but follow a pattern. The flowers are most expensive when the jasmine market opens- at about 6:30 am and the prices come down as the day progresses. "They could go as high as Rs 100 a kg. And there are days when they come at throwaway prices," Jegatheesan says. There is no question of storing the flowers when the supply is large. "The life of a jasmine is just a day, whatever you do. Keep them in a cold stroage, and they would seem fresh even after three days. But take them out and it would rot away in ten minutes," he says. However, the paste could be preserved for even five years, industry players feel.

About 2000 farmers around Madurai grow jasmine on nearly 5000 acres. On an average, one acre yields 300 kgs a month.

http://www.techno-preneur.net/new-ti...ov-05/news.htm