FICCI president Subhrakant Panda:Tamil Nadu can become country’s research and innovation hub

By Subrat Sarangi

Chennai, April 29 : “It is remarkable that Tamil Nadu has 15% of PhDs and 11% of postgraduates in the country; it can truly become an innovation and R&D hub,” said Mr Subhrakant Panda, President of FICCI and IMFA’s Managing Director. Addressing the National Executive Committee Meeting (NECM) of FICCI held at Chennai today, he highlighted Tamil Nadu’s immense potential and the significant contribution it makes to the India growth story. “There is also a lot of scope in chemicals and specialty chemicals in addition to traditional strengths like automobile and textiles industries,” he added.

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Thiru MK Stalin inaugurated the NECM as the Chief Guest. Tamil Nadu’s Minister for IT & Digital Services Thiru Mano Thangaraj and Minister for MSME Thiru T M Anbarasan along with senior functionaries of FICCI were present in the programme.

On the occasion, FICCI-Deloitte Knowledge paper on ‘Accelerating TN’s progress to becoming a one trillion dollar economy by 2030-31’ was released by the dignitaries.

During the visit to Chennai, Mr Panda was felicitated by the Consultative Committee of City Chambers of Commerce, a collective forum comprising of six industry associations in southern India. Speaking at the felicitation ceremony, he spoke about the country’s economic potential and high level of investor interest