(From Left) Krishna Bodanapu, Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region; Ravichandran, Chairman, CII Southern Region, and Indranil Ghosh, Regional Director, CII Southern Region, addressing a press conference on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: RAGU R
“The South has some of the best airports in the country. We have world-class airports in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and Tamil Nadu deserves to be in the top three and not in the top seven”, said P. Ravichandran, Chairman, CII Southern Region and President of Danfoss India, during a press meet that was organised by the CII. When asked about the Parandur airport project, he said: “ We have not had any dialogue with the government on this topic. Whatever they decide, we need to respect the decision.” A delegation from CII recently met Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.
To a query on how important the Parandur airport is for Tamil Nadu from an industry perspective, he said, “It is very important. Even getting efficiency on the first (airport) is important because where the investor lands is important. We deserve a bigger and better airport in Tamil Nadu.”
About CII’s meeting with the Chief Minister, he said: “The TVK’s manifesto talks about achieving a $1.5 trillion economy by 2036. To achieve this, the GSDP of Tamil Nadu has to multiply by 3.5 to 3.8 times what it is today. This means a year-on-year growth of about 12-13% for the next ten years. One of the key recommendations we made to the Chief Minister was to leverage his personal brand and attract more investments into the State, Mr. Ravichandran added.
He also pointed out that operation costs have gone up because of the West-Asia crisis. “The challenge for the manufacturing sector is that operating costs have increased. Fuel and raw material prices have gone up, and freight charges have gone up almost 2.5 times,” he added.
Noting that Tamil Nadu has a larger number of women across shop floors, Mr. Ravichandran said Tamil Nadu can target two million jobs by 2030 by supporting more women.
According to the data shared by him, Southern India continues to be one of the strongest contributors to India’s economic progress, accounting for nearly 32% of the country’s GDP and around 30% of India’s manufacturing GVA. He noted that the region has emerged as a major growth engine, with a combined GDP of ₹57.16 lakh crore in FY25 at constant prices, and contributes nearly 40% of India’s total services output.
Outlining the priorities for 2026-27, he said CII Southern Region will work around the theme “Accelerating South India’s Competitiveness: Growth, Resilience, Inclusion, Sustainability, Trust.” The focus areas for the year will include manufacturing and MSME growth, digital transformation and AI, green transition and energy security, talent excellence, agri value chains and food processing, infrastructure and logistics, global markets and FTA leverage, and tourism and the sports economy.
Published – June 03, 2026 12:20 am IST
