Growing in importance Interviews:
As a hub of education, health care and manufacturing, Coimbatore can genuinely claim pride of place in the entire country.
IF there is one region in Tamil Nadu that ticks all the boxes for a comfortable life, it is the western region, headquartered in Coimbatore. Coimbatore is pleasant round the year because of its proximity to the Western Ghats. The Palghat Gap—a 20-30 km gap in the Western Ghats in this region—ensures that Coimbatore gets rain from both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Most of the city’s water needs are met by the Siruvani river, considered the sweetest water in this part of India. No wonder, many retreats for the elderly are located in this region.
The city is full of surprises and quirks. One of the finest automobile museums in India, Geedee Car Museum, is situated here. So is the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (opened in 1990) and the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, which was originally set up in Saidapet, Chennai. It was shifted to Coimbatore in 1912 taking into account the better climatic conditions required for sugarcane to flower.
Apart from being a major hub for manufacturing, education and health care, Coimbatore is listed as among the fastest growing tier-ii cities in India. Cur
rently, every single sector that is important for a region’s economic and overall development is flourishing in the region. Each sector rooted in the region has had remarkable achievements to its credit. The sobriquet “Manchester of South India” attributed to it has now become more of a cliche because of several other sectors that have developed over the years to rival the unique place the textile industry enjoyed in the region. Coimbatore is also home to textile research institutes such as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles & Management, the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and the South India Textile Research Institute (SITRA).
In recent times, the garment trade in nearby Tiruppur has overshadowed the achievements of the textile industry in the region. The textile and garments sectors have faced immense competition both from within the country and abroad. Over the decades, Tiruppur has metamorphosed into a hub for the manufacture of high-quality, complex garments from one that produced base fabrics.
CODISSIA
Coimbatore is a major centre in the country for automotive components and foundries. Despite the economic slowdown, most of the entrepreneurs in the region are optimistic about a turnaround soon. “Yes, there is a challenge. But we are looking at other sectors, such as defence where we can take orders now. We recently visited the Cochin Shipyard. I am sure something positive will emerge from our efforts,” says R. Ramamurthy, president, The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA). “We are focussing on the Railways also. If defence and the Railways give more orders to MSMES [Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises], there is a huge potential. The only thing is that we have to establish the right linkages,” he adds. CODISSIA’S way to reach out is to hold periodic exhibitions and facilitate meetings with major customers. Since Coimbatore’s USP has been to do everything in style, CODISSIA too has opened a trade fair complex that is almost equal in size to Pragati Maidan, a venue for exhibitions in New Delhi. “It is almost three lakh sq ft. It has been done by a small-scale association, which nobody has done. Coimbatore’s economy is driven by CODISSIA,” says Ramamurthy.
PUMP CITY
Coimbatore is also India’s “pump city” as it supplies a major portion of India’s requirement of motors and pumps. The transformation of the pumpset from a mechanical and electrical device to a
computer-controlled “system” today is the result of the contribution of several innovators in this region. Today, the system—the pump controller, the panel associated with it, the electronics, and so on—plays a major role in providing solutions for drawing water and its use. For instance, one can operate a pump with a mobile phone nowadays. “It is not merely operating a pump. You can check all parameters that you want with your phone, sitting hundreds of kilometres away,” says V. Krishna Kumar, vice president (sales and marketing), Aquasub Engineering and Aquapump Industries.
New products and innovations were driven by need. “The water level is going down almost everywhere, even in States like Punjab and Haryana. It is not as bad as what we see in Tamil Nadu or the rest of the south. In some places, we need to go beyond a depth of 1,000 feet for water. In places like Rasipuram and Namakkal [in Tamil Nadu], 1,500 feet is normal. In Karnataka, in places like Kolar, it is 1,800 feet. It is bad,” he says. It fell on the manufacturers to rise to this challenge.
However, the business is entirely dependent on the climate and the farmer. If the rains are good, business is dull. If farmers are unable to afford pumps, then too, business suffers. “In 2019, the rain was good, but it damaged a lot of crops. Unseasonal rain in Maharashtra led to crop damage and hence both soya and onion were affected,” Krishna Kumar says.
HEALTH CARE
The region is also a hub of holistic health care. In allopathic care, the first charitable hospitals were set up decades ago. A personal tragedy in the legendary entrepreneur G. Kuppuswamy Naidu’s family in the 1920s led him to set up a hospital for women and child care. Thus was born the G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital. Kuppuswamy Naidu had set up Coimbatore’s iconic landmark, Lakshmi Mills, and was one of the well-known faces in the city. Although he did not live to see the progress of his dream project, he had set apart the money for its growth. A committee was formed to fulfil his wishes, and the G. Kuppuswamy Naidu
Memorial Trust was established. Today, it stays true to the founder’s vision: a humane health care service provider of the highest standard, focussing on providing accessible, safe, effective and efficient medical services.
Some distance away from this iconic hospital is the PSG Institute of Medical Science and Research and PSG Hospitals. PSG has been a unique institution since its founding. “In 1926, four brothers [PSG Venkataswamy
Naidu, PSG Rangaswamy Naidu, PSG Ganga Naidu and PSG Narayanaswamy Naidu] divided their ancestral properties into five portions,” explains S. Ramalingam, Dean, PSG Hospitals. “The fifth portion they named as charities. This was in deference to the wishes of their father. The charity runs schools, colleges and other educational institutions and undertakes voluntary work,” he says. PSG today is one of the most sought