Focus on education, health, infra: MSME Minister

He said this at the inaugural of the five-day 17th International Machine Tools and Industrial Trade Fair INTEC 2017, here on Thursday.

It is organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) Intec Technology Centre at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore. Chaudhary said the Centre has opened Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence, railways and housing sectors, and added that the industries here should raise their bar and make the best of it. 

He said that the defence sector spends several lakh crore rupees to import equipment and machinery and that bullet proof jackets, missiles and tankers should be produced locally under the Make in India pro gramme. He also asked the local ministers and industries to go through the successful Defence Park model in Gujarat and emulate it here. 

Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani said recently the CM accorded sanction for 300 investors to invest Rs 3,000 cr in an area of 500 acres. 

“This was in accordance with the agreements signed with those companies in the Global Investors Meet (in 2015),” he said. Velumani said around 500 acres of land is required for various industrial estates in this region, including a Defence Park and Medical Park here. 

Industries Minister MC Sampath said that a state of the art TICEL Bio Park to facilitate leading international leaders in the field of medicine to carry out their research and development here is being established in Coimbatore. “The Centre spread on 2.22 lakh sqft established at Rs 55 crore would soon be inaugurated by the Chief Minister,” he added. Rural Industries Minister P Benjamin and Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman also spoke at the event.