Economic Infrastructure of Tamil Nadu
Road
Road length per 1000 km : 1177
Surfaced roads/ 00 sq km: 90.3
The length of road network in Tamil Nadu is nearly 1.70 lakh kms. Private bus operators link the important cities and government buses ply the entire south. The inter-state buses run by State Express Transport Corporation connects Chennai with Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh.
Railways
Railway track length /00 sq km: 3.2
Headquartered at Chennai, the Southern Railways present network extends over a large area of India's Southern Peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, a major portion of Karnataka and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 6,693-kms and there are 690 railway stations in the state. Main rail junctions in the State include Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Salem, Coimbatore, etc.
In Chennai, the Central Railway Station is 5-km from the city centre and trains from almost all cities of India halt here. Broad gauge train services link the city with New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta (Calcutta), Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Guwahati and other important cities. The metre gauge train services cater to the south of Chennai, including Madurai, Rameshwaram, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin. The railhead for metre gauge services is situated at the Egmore station.
The first phase of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) from Chennai Beach to Thirumylai for a length of 8.55 km. was taken up for implementation by Government of India (GOI) through the Ministry of Railways in 1983-84. The project was cleared by the Union Planning Commission and sanctioned by the Railway Board in 1983-84 at an estimated cost of Rs 53.46 crores. The project has been completed and commissioned in October 1997. The cost of completion of the project is Rs. 260 crores.
The Government of Tamil Nadu (GTN) on their part agreed to make available 19.68 hectare of Government land and 0.54 hectare of private land and handed over the same to Railways free of cost. The cost of the land is presently valued at Rs. 60 crores. About 3500 families affected by the project were rehabilitated at a cost of about Rs.6.00 crores by the GTN.
The MRTS Ph.I project was launched by the GOI with a commitment to meet the estimated cost of the project in full, inclusive of the cost of construction, rollingstock, signal system, etc.
The MRTS Ph.I is on surface for a length of 2.75 km and elevated for a length of 5.80 km. Out of 8 stations, 5 are elevated. There are two tracks for uninterrupted operation of train service between the terminal stations. The system can carry about 6 lakhs trips a day. The system presently carries about ten to twelve thousand commuters/day.
MRTS Phase I: Chennai Beach To Thirumylai
- Length 8.55 km
i) Elevated 5.80 km
ii) Surface 2.75 km
- i) Gauge (1676 mm) Broad Gauge
ii) No of tracks 2
- No of Stations 8
i) Elevated 5
ii) Surface 3
- No.of Stations
a) Chennai Beach
b) Fort
c) Park Town
d) Chintadripet(Elevated)
e) Chepauk(Elevated)
f) Thiruvallikeni(Elevated)
g) Kalankaraivilakkam(Elevated)
h) Thirumylai(Elevated)
- System can carry 6 Lakh trips per day
- Land 20.22 hec.
i) Government Land 19.68 hec.
ii) Private Land 00.54 hec.
- i) Original estimate Rs. 53.46 crores(1980)
ii) Completion Cost Rs. 260.00 crores(1997)
- i) Commissioned from Chennai 16.9.1991
Beach-Park Town
ii) Commissioned from Chennai 16.11.1995
Beach to Chepauk
iii) Commissioned upto Thirumylai 19.10.1997
Air Links
The presence of an international airport at Chennai (Madras) which links the state of major capitals as well as to domestic airports at Salem, Trichy, Coimbatore and Madurai, Tiruchrappali and Tuticorin make several parts of the state easily accessible. Increased industrial activity has given rise to an increase in passenger traffic as well as freight movement which has been growing at over 18 per cent per year. Chennai airport is connected with 15 countries with more than 60 direct flights every week.
Ports
The State has two major all-weather ports at Chennai (Madras) and Tuticorin, as well as two intermediate and six minor ports all of which are currently capable of handling over 32 million metric tonnes of cargo annually.
I. Chennai Port
Chennai Port is an artificial harbour situated on the Coromandel Coast in South-East India and it is the second principal Port for handling Containers.
Chennai Port has 21 alongside berths in the 3 Docks viz., Dr.Ambedkar Dock, Jawahar Dock, Bharathi Dock and Container Terminal.
The major items being handled in the Port of Chennai are POL, Iron Ore, Coal, Containers, Fertilisers, Fertiliser Raw Materials, Car Export and Granites of general cargo items. In future, with the development of Ennore Port, the Coal and other Dusty Cargo being handled at Chennai will be shifted to that Port. The Port of Chennai will then handle Containers, Petroleum products, General Cargo items and Cars which are likely to be exported by the multinationals which are setting up automobile plants in and around Chennai.
Chennai being an important metropolitan town is well connected with all the major cities and industrial centers in India by road, rail and air.
The Chennai Port surges ahead with:
- More than 100 years of tradition
- Commitment for efficiency through innovation and continuous modernisation
- Efficient services at minimum cost
- Simple and integrated procedures
- User-friendly approaches
Facilities to handle cars and containers matching to international standards
Location
Latitude - 13° 06’ N
II. Tuticorin Port
Location
Tuticorin Port is located strategically close to the East-West International sea routes on the South Eastern coast of India at latitude 8o 45'N and longitude 78o 13'E. Located in the Gulf of Mannar, with Sri Lanka on the South East and the large land mass of India on the West, Tuticorin port is well sheltered from the fury of storms and cyclonic winds. The port is operational round the clock all through the year.
Tuticorin Port is an artificial deep-sea harbour formed with rubble mound type parallel breakwaters projecting into the sea for about 4 km. (Length of North breakwater is 4098.66 m, length of South breakwater is 3873.37 m and the distance between the breakwaters is 1275m). The Port was designed and executed entirely through indigenous efforts. The harbour basin extends to about 400 hectares of protected water area and is served by an approach channel of 1,450 metres length and 183 metres width.
Advantages
- Strategically located very close to the East- West International sea-route.
- Well connected by broad gauge rail & road with all major cities and all ICDs.
- Commissioning of Berth No. 7 by the Port of Singapore Authority as a Container Terminal with modern equipment and State of Art Technology by the end of 1999.
- 35 feet draught.
- Round the clock operations
- Night Navigations
- Adequate covered and vast open storage area.
- Open lands in the Port area suited for locating Port based industries.
III. Ennore Port - The one stop shop Logistics Services Provider
Ennore Port Limited is poised to become the Energy hub of Asia and has many benefits for doing business with. Here are some of them
- The first Corporatised Port in the Country
- Designed to be developed as Asia's Energy Port
- All Weather Port
- Round the Clock Operations
- Strategic Location
- Vast Back-up Land
- Simple Documentation
- Number one destination for Liquid Bulk Cargo
- Eco Friendly environment
- State-of-the art infrastructure
- Modern Navigational Facilities
- Efficient Logistics Systems
- Excellent Transport Interface
- Access to quality human resources
- Positioned within today's IT-Driven integrated logistics chain
- Customer friendly approach
Genesis
Ennore is situated on the coromandal coast, north of Chennai in the State of Tamil Nadu, India. The Port is located at a distance of 24 km by road form Chennai Port and by sea the distance is 10 nautical miles. It is the 12 major port perceived as a satellite port to the Chennai Port, primarily to handle coal requirements of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). The scope was expanded taking into account subsequent developments such as the plan of Government of Tamil Nadu to set up the following:
A 1880 mw LNG power project in association with a Private consortium
A large Petro Chem Park
A Naphtha Cracker Plant
The pollution and environmental hazards caused while handling iron ore and coal in the Chennai harbour and nearby habitations also necessitated shifting these facilities from the Chennai Port.
This was the rationale behind planning for berths for Iron ore, LNG Chemical, POL and Crude to serve various industires that would come up on the proposed Perto Chem Park. These factors have contributed to the evolution of Ennore Port as a multi functional energy port of the New Millennium.
The Phase I development of Ennore Port has been completed. The port was inaugurated and dedicated to the Nation by the Honorable Prime Minister of India on 1.2.2001. Commercial operations commenced with Handymax vessels on 22.6.2001. Full Fledged operations with deployment of crane hopper. Self unloading gearless vessels of 65000/77000 DWT and shore based mechanical unloaders are expected to commence in November 2001.
IV. Landlord Port
There are more than 2,000 seaports active throughout the world to cater to the requirements of sea borne cargo to the volume of around 5.3 billion tones. With the growing move for privatisation of the seaports all over the world subsequent to reforms, private sector participation in operations and infrastructure activities of seaports has been increased substantially over the last few years. The has resulted into a radical change in the organisational model of ports, converting form Service Port model to Landlord Port model, where port authority retains the port infrastructure and fulfills its regulatory functions, while port services are provided by private operators that own the assets conforming to port superstructure and equipment required for service provision.
The concept A 1997 review of the top 100 container ports of the world showed that 88 out of 100 ports conform to the Landlord Port model. In this model :
- The port authority constitutes a landlord, which manages the basic port assets by letting land and infrastructure to port operators in an efficient manner. The Landlord Port in this model would be involved in planning, lease negotiation, safety, navigation and overall coordinating functions. Cargo services, marine service, ancillary services, berths etc are privatised on captive/BOT basis to the primary port users
- Port operators and other undertakings which need to be located in the Port, lease the land, infrastructure and associated services and provide them to the secondary users - cargo owners, ship owners and cargo ship owners.
With intense competition, the role of Indian ports is changing from a Service port model to a Landlord port model.
Telecommunication
Tamil Nadu is a part of the global telecom network with cellular, paging & value-added services like GPSS facility, CPS value-added network facility,International digital leased Lines,International gateway through Flag & Semewe3 submarine cable links. It has 1,603 telephone exchanges with over 1.4 million lines with integrated communication facilities linking in to all parts of the world.
Financial Services
Chennai (Madras) is the financial capital of South India. The trade and industries in the city has spurred the growth of the financial sector in the city. The city has a strong financial system, served by All India financial institutions like ICICI, IDBI, IFCI, Commercial Banks such as the State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Co-operative Banks and Non-banking financial companies such as chit funds and indigenous financiers. Foreign banks such as Citi Bank, Hongkong Bank, ABN-Amro Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Bank of America, etc., have also established offices in Chennai (Madras). With the capitalization of the Chennai (Madras) Stock Exchange (MSE) growing strong: US $ 50 billion (Mumbai Stock Exchange Capitalization: US $ 160 billion), the financial services sector offers tremendous opportunities. SIPCOT is proposing to set up a Business cum Financial centre in Chennai.
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