Co-operation between public and sector is essential for economic growth, according to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Inaugurating Suminfra 2003, a summit on integrated infrastructure development in Chennai, she urged private companies to support the state government's efforts to enhance growth.
The chief minister said she expects the state economy to grow at 8 per cent during the Tenth Plan period. She expects the primary sector to grow at 4 per cent, the secondary sector at 7 per cent and the tertiary sector at 10 per cent.
Jayalalithaa said her goal is to double the per capita income by 2010, two years before the national target.
Though the primary sector contributes only 17 per cent of the gross state domestic product, more than 62 per cent of the state's population is dependant on agriculture and other allied activities.
The time has come for farmers to shift from traditional water intensive cultivation to more remunerative commercial crops and expand to non-farm employment activities like dairying, poultry framing, farm forestry and fisheries, she said.
Tamil Nadu government will invest more than Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) through rural infrastructure fund during the Tenth Plan period.
The chief minister promised that the government will use information technology to connect farmers to markets.
Henceforth, investors need to approach only one agency to set up shop in the state, she said.
"Guidance Bureau will help investors secure all regulatory approvals through a single document within a stipulated time frame. A common return form will reduce all the 51 returns now filed by entrepreneurs," she assured.
The government will develop cities including Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Salem and Erode. These towns are linked by an extensive network of optic fibre cables to the international gateway located in Chennai.
The government will also ensure an adequate tariff regime that will ensure a secure rate of return to the investor and an equitable price for the end user, she said.
The government will move towards a state VAT scheme based on national consensus irrespective of the possible revenue loss and risks involved, Jayalalithaa said.
"For Tamil Nadu this involves major risks and the revenue loss to the government could be very substantial," she said.
Tamil Nadu with a large manufacturing base relying on exports to other states will stand to lose more in this scheme. "No doubt the Centre has offered to compensate the loss, but this is on a tapering basis," she said.
With the state just slowly emerging out of fiscal chaos and neglect of reforms left by the previous government, it was a huge risk, she said.
"We are prepared to bite the bullet provided themanufacturing sector responds positively by going in boldly for new investments," she said, adding in this new tax system, it was the manufacturing sector that really gained under the input rebate scheme and prevention of cascading.
"We seek the growth in the manufacturing sector as the sure means of offsetting the revenue loss we will suffer in the process," she added.
Additional inputs from PTI
© 2025