Economy of Chennai

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Chennai has a diversified economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, hardware manufacturing and financial services. Other important industries include petrochemicals, textiles and apparels. The Chennai Port and Ennore Port contribute greatly to its importance. The city has a fully computerised stock exchange called the Madras Stock Exchange. Chennai has the fourth largest Gross Metropolitan Product in India.^{[citation needed]}

Chennai was recently rated as having the highest quality of life among Indian cities ahead of the other three metros and Bangalore, based on the "Location Ranking Survey" conducted by ECA International. Chennai has improved its global ranking to 138 in 2006-07 from 179 in 2002-03. It is now ranked at 26^th position in Asia in terms of livability, up from 31^st rank in 2002-03.^[1] According to a 2007 worldwide quality of life survey done by Mercer, Chennai received the second highest rating in India^[2], with New Delhi scoring the highest^[2], and came in at a relatively low 177^th worldwide.^[2] The reason was attributed to poor health and sanitation, and the increasing air pollution.^[3]

Contents 1 Software and Software Services 2 Electronics Hardware 3 Automobiles 4 Banking and Finance 5 Medical tourism 6 Petrochemicals and Textiles 7 Entertainment Industry 8 References

[edit] Software and Software Services

See also: List of Tech Parks in Chennai

Since the late 1990s, software development and business process outsourcing and more recently electronics manufacturing have emerged as major drivers of the city's economic growth. Chennai has been rated as the most attractive Indian city for offshoring services according to A T Kearney's Indian City Services Attractiveness Index 2005.^[4] Major software and software services companies like Accenture, Cognizant Technology Solutions, CSC, EDS, HCL, HP, IBM, Infosys, Satyam, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, TCS, Verizon, Wipro, and US Technology Resources have development centres in the city. The city is now the second largest exporter of IT and IT enabled Services in the country behind Bangalore. The IT Corridor, on Old Mahabalipuram Road in the southeast of the city houses several technology parks, and, when completed, will provide employment to close to 300,000 people. Besides the existing Tidel Park, two more Tidel Parks are on the anvil in the IT corridor. One is under construction at the Siruseri IT SEZ and the other one is being planned at the current location of MGR Film City which is just before the existing Tidel Park, in Taramani on the IT Corridor. The Mahindra World City, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with one of the world's largest information technology parks, is currently under construction in the outskirts of Chennai.^[5]

[edit] Electronics Hardware

More recently, Chennai has emerged as an electronic manufacturing hub with multinational corporations like Dell, Nokia, Motorola, Cisco, Samsung, Siemens, Sony-Ericsson, Flextronics and Foxconn setting up Electronics / Hardware manufacturing plants, particularly in the Sriperumbudur electronics SEZ . Ericsson and Alcatel have research and development facilities in the city while Texas Instruments' R&D facility is in the pipeline. Semiconductor companies like SPEL and Tessolve have announced plans to set up or expand manufacturing and R&D centers in the city. The city has two main biotechnology parks, TICEL bio-tech park and Golden Jubilee bio-tech park at Siruseri that house biotechnology companies and laboratories. Companies like Nokia, Flextronics, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Foxconn, Samsung, Cisco, and Dell have chosen Chennai as their South Asian manufacturing hub. Products manufactured include circuit boards and cellular phone handsets.^[6] Ericsson also has a Research and Development facility in Chennai.^[7] Big EPC companies have set up their Engineering centres which include Saipem I Project Services ltd, Technip, Foster Wheeler, Mott Mecdonald, Petrofac and Technimont, Austrian company "Austrian Energy and Environment" have also a design office here besides local giant ECC {Larsen & Toubro}. Sanmina-SCI is the latest company to invest in Chennai to create a state of the art manufacturing facility^[8]. Nokia Siemens Networks has decided to build a manufacturing plant for wireless network equipment in Chennai^[9].

[edit] Automobiles

Main article: Automobile industry in Chennai

Chennai has a market share of around 30% of India's automobile industry^[10] and 35% of its auto components industry.^[11] A large number of the automotive companies including several global automotive companies such as Hyundai, Ford, BMW, Mitsubishi, TVS, Ashok Leyland, Caterpillar, Royal Enfield, TI Cycles, TAFE, Dunlop, MRF have manufacturing plants in and around Chennai. Nissan-Renault and Apollo Tyres have plants under construction. The city is a major centre for the auto ancillary industry. Hyundai is in the process of setting up engine plant in the city. Ford is planning to invest $500 million dollars in Chennai plant^[12].Several Petrochemical companies like Chennai Petro Chemicals Limited (Manali_Refinery), Manali Petro Chemicals Limited, Petro Araldite and Orchid Pharmaceuticals are situated in the outskirts of Chennai.

The Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi produces military vehicles, including India's main battle tank: Arjun MBT. The Railway Coach building factory of the Indian Railways, the Integral Coach Factory^[13] manufactures railway coaches and other rolling stock.

[edit] Banking and Finance

Chennai is an important centre for banking and finance. At present it is home to three large national level commercial banks and many state level co-operative banks. Several large financial companies and insurance companies are headquartered in Chennai. Many Indian banks, multi-national banks and the World Bank have located their back office operations in the city. The city serves as a major back up centre for operations of many banks and financial companies in India.

[edit] Medical tourism

Home to some of India's best healthcare institutions such as Apollo Hospitals, the largest healthcare provider in Asia,^[14] MIOT Hospitals, Sankara Nethralaya and Sri Ramachandra Medical Center, Chennai is a preferred destination for medical tourists from across the globe.^[15] Some of the treatments sought after by the tourists include heart surgery, neurological problems, cancer, plastic surgery and orthopaedic procedures.^[16] In India, Chennai attracts about 45% of all health tourists from abroad and 30%–40% of domestic tourists.^[17]

[edit] Petrochemicals and Textiles

Other major manufacturing facilities range from small scale manufacturing to large scale heavy industrial manufacturing, pertochemicals and auto ancillary plants. Chennai is a textile industry hub with a large number of apparel industries located in the Ambattur-Padi industrial zone in the northern suburbs of the city. The city also has a large leather apparel and accessory industry. SEZ's for apparel manufacture and footwear are under construction in the southern suburbs of the city.

[edit] Entertainment Industry

The city is home to the Tamil entertainment (motion pictures, television, and recorded music) industry which is the second largest in India after Bollywood. Because the film industry is largely centered around a local area called Kodambakkam, the Tamil film industry is popularly referred to as Kollywood.

[edit] References