Blueprint for growth

Steel rolls produced by the Salem Steel Plant. The plant has undertaken expansion plans.-By SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Massive investments by the Central and State governments promise to transform Salem into an industrial hub.

SALEM has been witness to a flurry of development activities thanks to an investment of about Rs.3,000 crore by the Central and State governments in some mega projects. Once completed, these projects are sure to put this Tier-II city on the industrial map of Tamil Nadu. Vision Progress is the name of the blueprint for the citys all-round development. It focusses primarily on infrastructure creation, keeping in mind the future needs of the city.

It is no surprise that a large part of the total financial allocation has gone to Salem Steel Plant (SSP), a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The SSP gets Rs.1,553 crore for expansion and formation of an exclusive Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Another major chunk of the outlay has been allocated for the roadway (Rs.935 crore) and railway (Rs.379 crore) projects.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated work on the four-laning of its highways that criss-cross the city. The four-laning of the Bangalore-Hosur-Salem sector, which is emerging as the IT and industry fast lane of South India is scheduled for completion in December 2008.

This and the Salem-Erode-Coimbatore stretch, which is a part of the NHAIs National North-South Corridor Project, have alone cost the exchequer Rs.935 crore. The other important road project undertaken recently is the upgrading and widening of NH-68 in the Salem-Ulundurpet-Chennai sector.

The railways, too, have contributed in a big way to the regions development. The recent formation of a separate Railway Division, with Salem as its headquarters, has bolstered the citys overall economic development.

The completion of the broad gauge works and the resumption of passenger and goods traffic between Salem and Vridachalam (at a cost of Rs.150 crore) via Attur are expected to improve the prospects of farmers, particularly vegetable and turmeric farmers in Talavasal and Attur blocks.

This rail link is expected to shore up the sagging sago and starch industry too. Nearly 1.3 lakh hectares of land are under tapioca cultivation in Tamil Nadu, from which 48 lakh tonnes of tubers, the raw material for the starch and sago production, are being sourced.

Tamil Nadu is the worlds top grower of tapioca with the crops average production per hectare standing at 38 tonnes. This is the major crop in the districts of Salem and Namakkal on which more than three lakh farmers, largely tribal people, and 800 sago and starch factories depend. This vibrant agro-based industry depends solely on road transport to reach its produce to the northern States, its primary market.

The new rail project between Salem and Karur is expected to give the industry the much-needed fillip. A direct train link to the southern districts via Namakkal and Karur has been a long-pending demand of the people of this region. In order to reach the destinations in the South, they now take a roundabout route via Erode. The Salem-Karur project, being executed at a cost of Rs.230 crore (now revised at Rs.400 crore), provides the solution. But the only problem is the inordinate delay in its execution. Railway sources, however, said the project would be completed on time as land acquisition bottlenecks, which were the cause of the delay for more than a decade, had been cleared.

Union Minister of Health Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss sanctioned Rs.120 crore for upgrading the Salem Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Memorial Medical College Hospital into a Super Speciality facility on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The State government has provided adequate land and additional funds for this high-end health care project. Construction of new buildings is in full swing. Orders have been placed to procure advanced medical equipment.

Dr. K. Arthanari, managing director of Salem Sri Gokulam Hospital, said health care in Salem would be on a par with the facilities available in Chennai and Coimbatore. The sole constraining factor is the non-availability of specialists as they prefer to stay in metropolises, he points out.

The Dean of the Government Medical College, Dr. P. Shanmugam, said the project would be completed by January 2009, three months ahead of schedule. Nearly 75 per cent of manpower for the super speciality hospital will be appointed by December. The hospital will take care of the specialised health care in this region, he says.

There are, however, a few small but significant schemes that are sure to play a constructive role in the overall development of Salem region. The Union Textile Ministry has decided to form a Handloom Textile Cluster in Salem but the industrialists are yet to respond favourably to the idea. Although the city has a fully equipped modern airport, it lacks regular passenger traffic.

In the absence of coordinated effort from trade and industry, even private operators are reluctant to operate services. But with Bangalore Airport (which is a four-hour drive from Salem) becoming congested, the Salem Airport is likely to emerge as its satellite unit.

K.V. Thankgabalu, Member of Parliament from Salem, said steps were being initiated to activate the airport project.

When the Centre has sanctioned mega projects for the Tier-II city, can the State be far behind? Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi laid the foundation stone for an information technology-cum-SEZ for which a consortium was formed under the guidance of Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam.

The 165-acre site for setting up the IT-SEZ is located on the Salem-Bangalore highway and falls within the Salem Corporation limits.

Other State projects include an integrated collectorate complex, an underground drainage scheme, installation of underground power cables, an integrated garbage collection yard and the Tirumanimutharu Development Scheme.