The Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) has sought measures to boost trade and commerce between Thiruvananthapuram and the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, mainly Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli.
TCCI representatives, who met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on Monday in Chennai, said Mr. Stalin promised measures to improve infrastructure and consider favourable policy intervention in this regard.
The TCCI requested Mr. Stalin to create an industrial corridor connecting Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari with Thiruvananthapuram with special emphasis on agro, marine and green energy-based industries and the MSME sector. The corridor would spur economic activity in the region and create jobs on either side of the border, TCCI president S. N. Raghuchandran Nair said in a statement. According to him, Mr. Stalin agreed to intervene to ensure that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) does not foreclose the two projects four-laning the stretch linking the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border to Kanyakumari. The TCCI stressed the need for a road bypassing the bottle-neck at Nagercoil.
Cargo transport
The organisation also urged Tamil Nadu to revive the Anantha-Victoria-Marthandam (AVM) Canal and make it navigable so as to enable cargo transportation via waterways and promote tourism in the region.
The TCCI sought a centralised collection point and warehouse for vegetables at Kaliyikkavila and a special economic zone for jewellery manufacturing and exports at Nanguneri. TCCI secretary Abraham Thomas, vice president B. Govindan and TCCI Tamil Nadu coordinator Vishnu Sachiv were among those present.
