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) will expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.20 per cent to reach Rs 20.92 trillion (US$ 299.32 billion). Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) expanded at a CAGR of 12.17 per cent to touch Rs 16.73 trillion (US$ 231.49 billion) between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

In 2019-20, the tertiary sector contributed 54.63 per cent to state’s Gross State Value Added (GSVA) at current prices, followed by the secondary sector at 31.92 per cent.

According to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry stood at US$ 32.20 billion between April 2000 to March 2020.

During 2018-19, total merchandise export from the state stood at US$ 30.52 billion.

Tamil Nadu has a well-developed infrastructure with an excellent road and rail network, three major ports, 15 minor ports, and seven airports across the state providing excellent connectivity. As of March 2020, the state had a total installed power generation capacity of 32.84 gigawatt (GW).

Key Sectors:

• 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 per cent 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 per cent y-o-y.
• Tamil Nadu ranked first in terms of domestic tourist arrivals and second in terms of foreign tourist arrival in 2018(P). In 2018, foreign tourist arrival reached 6.07 million and domestic tourist stood at 385.90 million.

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