H Chandalia, Secretary, South India Radio and Electronic Trade Association, on the electronic industry in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is a very big market as far as electronics is concerned. But Tamil Nadu is only big as far as the trade is concerned. In the sense that while the market is big and there is a lot of demand, there are not many manufacturing facilities here. This has been the case for nearly a decade now in Tamil Nadu. Even after other industries like the automotive and software industries have attracted investments, electronics, as far as manufacturing is concerned, has not attracted any major investment at all. This should not be perceived as a drawback, but entrepreneurs and investors should see this as an opportunity to be exploited. I would only say that the electronics industry would grow in a major way, if it were to be encouraged by the government department handling electronics. But, I perceive that they are ill-equipped to handle such a task. I am not speaking about Chennai alone. This is the case for the whole of Tamil Nadu.

If one were to compare Tamil Nadu with its neighbouring states, we see that it stands nowhere in terms of electronics. Kerala has developed well; you see that electronics majors like BPL, Keltron all have their base in Kerala. BPL, which is such a big name when it comes to electronic home appliances, has its main base in Palghat, Kerala. When one analyses these factors what is to be observed is that the conditions existing in Kerala and other states are investor-friendly. The government there has adopted a friendly attitude to the industry and there are a lot of sops for the industry there.

But again, one should not see the negative, but the positive side. If it is not there, then the vacuum is waiting to be filled. This makes for a high-potential market. Only, somebody has to take the lead. The liberalisation policy has not affected the traders positively or negatively. But liberalisation has made the customer king. From an ordinary transistor radio to the most sophisticated computer, there are now so many choices for the customer.

Tamil Nadu's strength is the excellent engineering institutions, which are bringing out quality engineers every year. Most of them show an aptitude for electronics, but their interest and ambitions are squashed because there are not many quality jobs around which can make use of their education and talent.

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