Land identified for industrial estate

Madurai: Madurai Engineering Cluster, the special purpose vehicle floated by the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (Maditssia) for the establishment of a private ancillary engineering fabrication industrial estate has identified about 90 acres of private land at Melur, on the Madurai-Tiruchi national highway, according to Mr K.R. Gnanasambandan, Chairman, Maditssia Cluster Development Panel.

The initiative to promote the estate has been taken in response to the growing need for more vendors for Bharath Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Tiruchi. The order book being full for another two decades, BHEL has been looking for support from more vendors to execute the job beyond Tiruchi but within a radius of 120 km.

The opportunity blossomed with the emphasis on infrastructure development in the economy, especially on the power front. With more power projects lined up in southern Tamil Nadu, and the operational costs a determining factor in the execution, BHEL scouted for entrepreneurship in locations like Dindigul, Pudukottai and Madurai.

The prospective units would engage in any of the three types of jobs, namely, basic, advanced and precision fabrication. A minimum of 2 acres per unit with provision for an office and internet connectivity is the requirement. Apart from land, the investment required is in the order of Rs 35 lakh for basic jobs, Rs 1 crore for advanced jobs and Rs 3 crore for precision fabrication jobs.

Once the estate is established, the minimum job orders of Rs 100 crore a year is expected. It would provide direct employment to 1,000 persons and indirect employment to 10,000 persons, he added.
Mr K. Ramachandran, Chairman of the proposed estate, said there was overwhelming response to the proposal. About 60 applications were received, thirty applicants have been selected and the land purchase is under process with full payment. The estate, apart from the units, will have common facilities such as a lorry yard, weigh bridge, information centre, laboratory and canteen.

For infrastructure development at the estate, efforts are being taken to obtain a subsidy of Rs 1 crore under the Tamilnadu Government Scheme, provided for an estate with a minimum of 50 acres. This being a back-ended subsidy, more investment would be required by the entrepreneurs at the initial stage itself. There is need for reconsideration by the government in the matter.

Similarly, an effort to obtain the infrastructure subsidy under the Central Government Industrial Infrastructure Development Scheme is also being pursued. Here, the hitch is that the subsidy is limited to either 20 per cent of the cost or Rs 2 crore, whichever is lower, and the rates are calculated on the basis of the rates of Central Public Works of 1993.

A representation has been made to the Union Ministry of Industry for reconsideration of the rates and a decision is awaited, he said. However, irrespective of the response from the Government, a decision has been taken to go ahead with the establishment of the estate.

Also, as skilled workers like welders are in short supply, a proposal to start a vocational training institute to train workers with help from Germany-based ZDH, a federation of small scale associations, is being sought.