About Tamil Nadu: Tourism, Industries, Economy, Agriculture, Climate, Geography

Tamil Nadu is the fourth-largest state of India. Located on the southern coast of India, Tamil Nadu is surrounded by Andhra Pradesh on the north, Karnataka and Kerala on the west, Indian Ocean on the south, and Bay of Bengal on the east.

Tamil Nadu has a diversified manufacturing sector and features among the leaders in several industries like automobiles and auto components, engineering, pharmaceuticals, garments, textile products, leather products, chemicals, plastics, etc. It ranks first among the states in terms of number of factories and industrial workers.

Between 2015-16 and 2020-21, Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) expanded at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.56% to reach Rs. 19.43 trillion (US$ 265.49 billion). Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) expanded at a CAGR of 10.60% to touch Rs. 17.50 trillion (US$ 239.00 billion) between 2015-16 and 2019-21.

In 2020-21, tertiary sector contributed 54.26% to state’s Gross State Value Added (GSVA) at current prices, followed by secondary sector at 32.39%.

According to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry stood at at US$ 3,329 million between October 2019 and March 2021.

Between the second quarter and third quarter of FY21, the state received new investments of ~Rs. 61,000 crore (US$ 8.3 billion). Of this, some key private investments included Rs. 4,629 (US$ 631 million) crore solar photovoltaic modules project by SunEdison Energy India; Rs. 2,500 crore (US$ 341 million) lithium-ion batteries project in Tiruvallur by Lucas-TVS and a Rs. 2,300 crore (US$ 314 million) plant is being set up by Daimler India Commercial Vehicles at Oragadam.

Total merchandise exports from the state stood at US$ 30.02 billion in FY20. In FY21, exports stood at US$ 26.16 billion.

Tamil Nadu has a well-developed infrastructure with an excellent road and rail network, three major ports, 15 minor ports, and eight airports across the state providing excellent connectivity. As of February 2021, the state had a total installed power generation capacity of 33.44 GW.

Key Sectors:

• In February 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi flagged off the Chennai Metro Rail Phase-1 extension from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar, built at a cost of Rs. 3,770 crore (US$ 519.78 million). The 9.05-kms extension of the Chennai Metro will connect North Chennai with the airport and Chennai Central Railway Station. He also inaugurated the fourth railway line between Chennai Beach and Attipattu. The 22.1-km stretch, constructed at a cost of Rs 293.40 crore (US$ 40.45million), passes through Chennai and Thiruvallur districts.
• As of November 2020, Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah dedicated a Rs. 380 crore (US$ 53.9 million) fifth reservoir to cater to Chennai's drinking water supply in Tamil Nadu. The minister also laid the foundation stone for various infrastructure projects, with a total exceeding Rs. 67,000 crore (US$ 9.5 billion), across the state. The projects included the Rs. 61,843 crore (US$ 8.8 billion) phase II of Chennai Metro Rail, elevated highway in Coimbatore at an estimated Rs. 1,620 crore (US$ 229.8 million), a barrage across river Cauvery in Karur district and IOCL's projects worth over Rs. 3,000 crore (US$ 425.6 million)
• As of February 2020, the state had 54 formally approved Special Economic Zone (SEZs), 50 notified SEZs and four with in- principle approval SEZs and has total 40 exporting SEZs.
• Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of cotton yarn, accounting for 41% of India’s production. During October-September 2019-20(E), the state was estimated to produce 600,000 bales** of cotton.
• As of March 2019. IT & ITeS export from Tamil Nadu increased to Rs. 1.39 lakh crore (US$ 19.9 billion) in 2018-19 at a growth rate of 10% y-o-y.
• Tamil Nadu ranked 1^st in terms of foreign tourist arrivals and second in terms of domestic tourist arrival in 2019(P). In 2019, foreign tourist arrival reached 6.86 million and domestic tourist stood at 494.86 million.

Note: P - Provisional, ** - of 170 kgs each, E - Estimated