Chittoor poised for big industrial leap

Tirupati: The border district of Chittoor is poised for a big leap in industrial growth with the district included in the ambitious

Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) providing scope for large-scale industrial development coupled with the existing excellent facilities available in the district proving itself to be one of the most congenial platforms in the State for investors.

With its proximity to Bangalore and Chennai, the district has huge potential for IT, automobile and food processing units. When it comes to connectivity, it has excellent road, rail and air links as it is located equidistant to Krishnapatnam and Chennai ports. The four-lane Chennai-Chittoor –Bengaluru (NH-4); Bengaluru-Chennai Express Highway, Tirupati–Naidupet ( NH-71), Madanapalli–Tirupati (NH-71) are contributing much to the industrial development in the district, which is also connected to the entire country by railway network.

It is needless to say that besides land and water, availability of skilled, semiskilled and unskilled workforce is an added advantage to the investors to turn their eyes on the district.

There are nine major potential activities for the investors, including food processing (milk chilling and processing, fruit processing, mango pulp, mango juice, tamarind concentrate, packaged foods etc); Automobile sector (auto components, accessories manufacturing and 2-wheeler spares), textile (readymade garments, technical textiles, textile household products such as door mats, kerchiefs, towels, lungis, computerised embroidery works, masks, PPE kits, cotton carrybags and nonwoven carry bags) and electronics products including mobile accessories and mobile assembling.

Other products that are on the list include MS wire, furniture manufacturing, dish antennas, roofing sheets, agricultural implements, wiremesh barrels, aluminium hard ware, paper-based corrugated boxes , paper plates and cups, paper carry bags, mobile /TV packaging boxes, paper napkins, plastic and rubber-based industrial gloves, gum boots, foodgrade packaging material, PVC pipes, PVC doors, disposable cups, building material like light-weight bricks, RCC poles, manhole covers, concrete sleepers, parking tiles, spun pipes, and manufactured sand.

The Sri City special economic zone (SEZ) has emerged as one of the busiest industrial hubs in the country. The SEZ, spread across an area of 100 square kilometres, offers a number of multiple investment options and stands out as an example of a holistic business city with investments close to Rs 45,000 crore and exports exceeding Rs 9500 crore.

As of now, there are 185 industrial units offering employment to over 50,000 people. It plays a pivotal role in the mission 'Make in India', and its contribution towards substituting imports by significantly multiplying exports is conspicuous.

The existing industries in the district which include Amara Raja Batteries, Srikalahasthi Pipes Ltd, Dixon, Isuzu, Greenply, Colgate Palmolive, Jain Irrigation , Thermox , Shahi Exports, Mondelez (Cadbury), Foxconn, Pepsico, Hero Motors, Apollo Tyres, Flora Khajara ceramics, Kurlon, Gokaldas Exports, Parle, Continental Coffee, Britannia, Karbonn Mobiles, Voltas and TCL are doing great in business as well as generating employment.

District Industrial Centre (DIC) general manager Pratap Reddy said there are already 17 mega projects, 149 large enterprises and 8,969 MSMEs with a total investment of 29,080 crore providing employment to about 1.92 lakh, while 117 more enterprises including 8 mega, 44 large and 125 SMSEs with a total investment of Rs 9,362 crore and an employment capacity of 46,289 are almost ready for operation which would bound to add momentum to the industrial growth.

For VCIC, 12,000 acre land was already acquired for its implementation, throwing enormous opportunity to the investors world over, while the Phase-II of the mega project in the same extent of another 12,000 acre will see the entire eastern belt of Chittoor district from Satyavedu to Tirupati comprising 9 mandals becoming a major industrial hub in the country.