Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday inaugurated the national executive meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and also released a FICCI – Deloitte Knowledge Paper on ‘Accelerating Tamil Nadu’s Progress to becoming a One Trillion Dollar Economy by 2030-31’.
Tamil Nadu is the second-largest State economy after Maharashtra and is the third-largest goods exporter in India (by value) after Gujarat and Maharashtra, the report said. Assuming Tamil Nadu can sustain its current average of 10% growth, it is expected to reach a USD 1 trillion economy benchmark by FY2034. However, to achieve this milestone by FY2031, the State will need to grow at an average of 16.5% anually, it said.
Achieving this growth rate will require the introduction of pathbreaking policies and economic planning to attract investments, enhance production, and expand exports, the report said. As per the paper, Tamil Nadu will need to climb up the value chain across all three sectors of the economy (primary, secondary, and tertiary) to increase value addition and propel its economy towards the set goal.
The primary sector is required to grow at 16%, while the manufacturing and professional services sectors are required to grow at 18%. To achieve the required sectoral growth rates, the State will need to bring in strategic investments over the next seven years, it said.
Investments needed in various sectors
The report also highlighted the amount of strategic investments needed in various sectors. The manufacturing sector needs to attract USD 598 billion in investments; the electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services need investments to the tune of USD 430 billion.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing & mining sectors would need USD 396 billion in investments, while public administration & other services would need strategic investments of USD 221 billion, it said.
The real estate, professional services & financial services need to bring in strategic investments of USD 213 billion. The construction sector requires USD 147 billion; the trade and hotel and restaurant sectors needs USD 94 billion, while the transport, storage and communication sectors requires USD 21 billion to achieve these goals, the report said.
State can become an R&D hub, says report
The State can utilise the strong higher education ecosystem and the availability of skilled talent to become a leading global research and development (R&D) hub. Key sectors of scope for the State include R&D (including biotechnology), Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, renewable energy, defence, agri-tech, and electronics, the report pointed out.
It also suggested that Tamil Nadu should look at marine product processing and exports and also has tremendous scope to become a transhipment hub, utilising its existing port infrastructure.
The report also highlighted three strategic focus areas. One is the focus on the theme of ‘Made in Tami Nadu’ and moving up in the value chain in manufacturing in sectors like electric vehicles, agri-allied food processing, technical textiles, chemicals, non-metallic minerals and electronic and semi-conductor industries.
The second area it pointed out was to focus on building ‘Brand Tamil Nadu’ as an integral part of the global economy, trade, and culture. This includes aspects from exports to tourism.
The third area the report pointed to was that the State should aspire to lead India in emerging technologies and innovation. This would enable the State to attract investments from growing sectors and provide it with a head-start over other economies.
T. M. Anbarasan, State Minister for MSME, T.M. Thangaraj, Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services, FICCI president Subhrakant Panda and FICCI vice president Anish Shah as well as G.S.K. Velu, chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council and others were present on the occasion.
The report can be accessed here.
