Major Industrial Clusters and their Specialisation in Tamil Nadu
Automotive Clusters
- Chennai is nicknamed as “The Detroit of Asia”because of its large auto industry base. Chennai is home to large number of auto assembly and component making firms.
- Coimbatore region is also developing into an auto component cluster.
Truck and Bus Body Building Industry Clusters
- The Namakkal Tiruchengodebelt in western Tamil Nadu is known for its truck body building industry.
- About 150 of the 250 units in this sector are located in this cluster including 12 large-sized body building houses.
- Karur is another major hub with more than 50 units.
Textile Clusters
- Coimbatore often referred as the “Manchester of South India”.
- At present, most of the spinning mills have moved to the smaller towns and villages at a radius over 100 to 150 kmaround the Coimbatore city. Tamil Nadu is the biggest producer of cotton yarn in the country.
- Palladam and Somanur, small towns near Coimbatore and the villages near these towns, are home to a dynamic powerloom weaving cluster as well.
- Tiruppuris famous for clustering of a large number of firms producing cotton knitwear.
- Apart from body building, Karur is a major centre of exports of home furnishings like table cloth, curtains, bed covers and towels.
- Bhavani and Kumrapalayamare again major centres of production of carpets, both for the domestic and the global markets.
Leather and Leather Goods Clusters
- Tamil Nadu accounts for 60 per cent of leather tanning capacity in India and 38 per cent of all leather footwear, garments and components.
- Hundreds of leather and tannery facilities are located around Vellore and its nearby towns, such as Ranipet, Ambur and Vaniyambadi.
- The Vellore district is the top exporter of finished leather goods in the country. Chennai also has a large number of leather product making units involved in exports.
- There is another clustering of leather processing in Dindigul and Erode.
Fireworks, Matches and Printing Cluster
- Sivakasi region, once famous for its match industry has now become a major centre for printing and fireworks in the country.
- It is believed to contribute to 90% of India’s fireworks production, 80% of safety matches and 60% of offset printing solutions.
- The offset printing industry has a high degree of specialisation among firms with several of them undertaking just one operation required for printing.
Electronics and Information Technology (IT) Clusters
- After the economic reforms started in the early 1990s, the state has seen the entry of hardware and electronics manufacturers like Nokia, Foxconn, Motorola, SonyEricsson, Samsung and Dell making cellular handset devices, circuit boards and consumer electronics.
- They have all been set up in the Chennai region. While Nokia has been closed down, Chennai still continues to be a minor electronics hub in the country.
- Similarly, with the expansion of the software sector, Chennai and, to a limited extent Coimbatore, have emerged as centres for software services