Land allocation for defence parks in Coimbatore yet to gain momentum

With the government inviting expression of interest from industries that want to invest in the aerospace and defence park planned in Coimbatore, allocation of about 100 acres have been given inprinciple approval, said official sources.

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) invited applications from industries that want to invest in the 350 acres park at Varapatti in Coimbatore district. So far, inprinciple approval has been granted for allocation of about 100 acres. The government plans to develop another defence and aerospace park near Sulur.

The sources said only Bengaluru and Hyderabad have industrial parks with air strips for trials. The park planned at Sulur will have a similar facility. If there is one anchor industry the park will take off, they said.

MSMEs in Coimbatore say that nonavailability of land at affordable costs is a major challenge for industrial investments here. The district does not have major industrial parks as in Chennai or its nearby districts. Now that two parks are planned for the defence sector in Coimbatore, the government should expedite these projects so that the defence and aerospace sectors take off.

“The potential of Coimbatore’s MSMEs can be tapped fully only when the defence sector gets a thrust here,” said one of the MSME unit owners.

Only when large scale industries start operations will the MSMEs get orders. It is said there are industries that have expressed willingness to invest. This project should be fast tracked, they said.