To come up with a new manufacturing policy.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said the state has to grow at double digit rates in the next five years to create new job opportunities faster than the growth of the labour force.
Addressing the national executive committee meeting of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in Chennai, the chief minister said that during her previous regime, the state had clocked an overall growth rate of 13.3 per cent and the manufacturing sector had registered a growth rate of 14.6 per cent.
“However, these growth rates dipped in successive years. I am very confident of repeating double digit growth rates in the next five years. I firmly believe that optimism is essential for achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress,” she said.
To revitalise the manufacturing sector, the government would launching a package of second generation reforms. A new Industrial Policy 2011 would be introduced with sector-specific policies for automobiles and auto components, bio-technology and pharma.
The state government is aiming to exceed the national average growth rates and making Tamil Nadu grow faster than the rest of India, like it had done in the past, she added.
The government is also targeting a higher growth rate in the primary sector, particularly agriculture, to support the manufacturing and industrial activities in the state.
“We are planning to take up measures to achieve the second green revolution, which would be a mission to improve agricultural production by addressing the productivity gap and through value addition. Target growth is four per cent in the agriculture sector,” she said.
Noting that any rational expectation for Tamil Nadu must be an optimistic one, she said this does not mean that there would be no ups and downs along the way. "There are challenges ahead, obstacles to surmount and compromises to be made,” the chief minister said.
There are several immediate and medium-term problems that worry people and in particular, industry. Inadequate infrastructure is a major constraint on the state's performance and the government is determined to overcome it, she said.
