Tamil Nadu will soon have a new Information Technology (IT) and IT-Enabled Services (ITES) policy and the Chief Minister Ms J Jayalalithaa invited investors to be partners in her dream to make the State the number one in the country.
"The Tamil Nadu Government proposes to bring out a New Information Technology & ITES Policy that will engender many avant-garde features. This will catapult Tamil Nadu to the numero uno position", Ms Jayalalithaa, said here on Wednesday.
In her address to the 11th Edition of Connect 2011, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Government of Tamil Nadu, with the theme: 'Towards Innovation and emerging entrepreneurship-Tamil Nadu leads the way', she said, "my Government is committed to providing an investor-friendly Industrial Policy framework to provide a healthy and productive environment. I invite investors to Tamil Nadu - the land of great opportunity endowed with immense potential and reiterate the commitment of my Government to establishing a strong and vibrant Tamil Nadu as a new growth model in India".
Ms Jayalalithaa said that in Tamil Nadu, the opportunities were immense and the Government believed in being pro-active and being an enabler.
"We would like to be a State with the right attitude towards investors. Tamil Nadu is a State that delivers and we need partners who can see growth both in the old and the new economy and participate in the generation and creation of wealth", the Chief Minister said.
The Chief minister endorsed the views of Mr S Ramadorai, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Skill development and Vice-Chairman Tata Consultancy Services, who said that Tamil Nadu had the potential to become an international destination of choice.
"With the combination of talent, technology and incentivized policy, the State has all the ingredients to make the leap to become a global destination of products and services. Consequently cities such as Chennai have the opportunity to grow into a global city", he said in his keynote address.
He said the rise of Tamil Nadu could be fuelled by sectors like automotives, textiles, manufacturing, biotech, healthcare and Pharma, energy, animation and visual effects and IT, where it has established leadership.
"Simultaneously challenges in health, education, water, agriculture, livelihood and energy must be addressed both in rural areas and in the cities", he said.
Mr Ramadorai suggested automotive industry, textiles and sustainable development as the important sectors that Tamil Nadu could excel. He said Tamil Nadu has the opportunity to become a role model for other States by adopting a 'Sustainable Tamil Nadu Action Plan'.
"Let us make the choice of innovation, let us follow the dream of taking up a few areas, a few sectors and set an ambitious goal of becoming the global leader in these for the next century", he said.
The Chief Minister presented the Connect 2011 Award under four different categories. The Award 'for a person from Tamil Nadu who has succeeded in Tamil Nadu' went to Mr Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Managing director, KG Information Systems Pvt Ltd ( Coimbatore). The award for a ‘person from Tamil Nadu who succeeded outside India (globally)' was given to Mr Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO BharatMatrimony ( Consim Info Pvt Ltd). Mr T Kannan, Chairman and Correspondent Thiagarajar College of Engineering ( Madurai) was given the 'ICT Ecosystem' award. Mr S Ramsdorai, Vice-chairman Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was presented with the 'Life Time Achievement Award'.
Mr S Mahalingam, Chairman, Connect 2011 and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Tata Consultancy Services, said Tamil Nadu has to be showcased as a place of innovation and entrepreneurship. He suggested some of the areas that could help achieve this target. They include a knowledge management system, attracting foreign investment in research and development ( R & D) and replicating the IIT Research Park in other locations in the State.
Mr T T Ashok, Chairman, CII Southern Region said, Tamil Nadu has made substantial developments in the ICT sector and there were some areas that ICT could make better. He said agriculture could be IT- enabled. He called for a new regulatory frame work for the manufacturing sector with focus on electronic hardware, the skill development of maximum number of people at the shortest possible time and IT-enabled governance and government services for the common man.
Mr N K Ranganath, Chairman CII Tamil Nadu State Council said, CII would submit its proposals for the proposed Vision 2025 for achieving fair, equitable and balanced growth.
Mr R Chandrsekaran, Co-Chairman, Connect 2011 and President and Managing Director - Global Delivery, Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt Ltd, proposed a vote of thanks.