S'pore-India SEZ near Chennai soon

Our Bureau

Chennai , Oct. 3

A new project to attract investment from Singapore-based companies into Chennai, a Singapore-India Economic Zone, is under consideration, according to Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

In a brief interaction with reporters following a meeting with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, to discuss the project, he said that the Chief Minister has agreed to take up the issue of getting the Centre's clearance.

Dr Sadasivan said they believed that Tamil Nadu is the `ideal place' for the project because of its proximity to Singapore. The State Government was also for encouraging the project. The Singapore-India economic zone would come up near Chennai.

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Mr Arcot N. Veeraswamy, Tamil Nadu Minister for Power, who was present at the meeting, said that the location is likely to be near Gummidipoondi, an industrial suburb of Chennai, close to the Chennai-Kolkata Highway. The project is envisaged along the lines of a special economic zone for Singapore companies to set up manufacturing facilities.

Dr Sadasivan said that manufacturers based in Singapore were on the look out for alternatives to China and Vietnam, where they had invested earlier. Manufacturing costs were on the increase in these places.

Tamil Nadu, particularly Chennai, was an option as an investment destination. While declining to elaborate on the project, he said that officials were discussing the details. But companies across a range of industries were interested in setting up facilities here. The project under consideration would enable creation of a `little Singapore in Chennai'.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/10/04/stories/2006100403900900.htm