TN plans to introduce new info-tech, IT-enabled service policy

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government proposes to bring out a new information technology and IT-enabled service policy that will engender many avant-garde features. This will catapult Tamil Nadu to the numero uno position, said the Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, without giving any time frame or details of the policy.

“My Government is committed to providing an investor-friendly industrial policy framework to provide a healthy and productive environment. I have a vision or a dream to make Tamil Nadu numero uno in terms of all-round development,” she said at Connect2011, which is the 11th edition of the annual conference to promote the State as a destination for information, communication and technology. Incidentally, in her earlier tenure as Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa had inaugurated the first Connect event in 2001.

Sunshine sector
“We would like to be a State with the right attitude towards investors. Tamil Nadu is a State that delivers and we need partners who can see growth both in the old and the new economy and participate in the generation and creation of wealth,” she said.

The Indian IT sector continues to be one of the sunshine sectors of the Indian economy, showing rapid growth and promise. IT has powered the transformation of Tamil Nadu into a modern economy, clearly making it India's eastern gateway to the world, not just South Asia.

Tamil Nadu has emerged as a global leader in ITeS verticals such as banking, financial services and insurance, health systems management, computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering, she said.

In 2010-11, software exports from STPI units in Tamil Nadu touched Rs 42,100 crore, and if exports from the IT SEZ units are included, the total exports would be above Rs 50,000 crore, she said.

“Tamil Nadu and Chennai have become the destination of choice for IT investments. At present, Tamil Nadu has over 1,800 software and ITeS exporters, including over 210 foreign, wholly-owned subsidiaries and multinational companies in software development, she said.

Ms Jayalalithaa thanked Mr S. Ramadorai, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Skill Development, for his suggestions on improving the industrial climate in the State.

Opportunity to grow
In his keynote address, Mr Ramadorai, who is also Vice-Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services, said with the combination of talent, technology and incentivised policy, the State has all the ingredients to make the leap to becoming a global destination for products and services. Consequently, a city such as Chennai has the opportunity to grow into a global city.

Tamil Nadu has India's brightest minds, a large entrepreneurial force, a vibrant entertainment industry and thriving arts and cultural landscape. Its growth can be powered by sectors such as automotive, textile, manufacturing, biotech, health and pharma, energy, animation and visual effects and IT, in which it has already established leadership, he said.