Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday called on Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and submitted a memorandum, highlighting various demands.
He requested the Union government to release ₹4,446.14 crore against the subsidy for custom milled rice (CMR).
Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Food Minister R. Sakkarapani and senior officials of the State government accompanied the Chief Minister.
In the memorandum, the State made seven specific requests. As the Union government proposed to establish mega textile parks across the country, Tamil Nadu identified 1,052 acres abutting the National Highway-44 for the proposed PM-Mega Integrated Textiles Region and Apparel Park and submitted a preliminary project report. “Tamil Nadu’s request may be considered and the proposed textile park at E. Kumaralingapuram, Virudhunagar, may be sanctioned for the State,” it said.
As Tamil Nadu was a dominant player in the footwear industry at the national as well as global levels, accounting for 26% of the national output and 45% of the national exports, “a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for footwear manufacturing will increase the productivity of the existing players and make India the most favoured destination for footwear exporters. Further, the PLI scheme will aid in the import substitution for input products such as ornaments, zippers, soles, buckles and embellishments”, the memorandum said.
It said lithium-ion batteries were among the important parts of electric vehicles, accounting for over 50% of the cost of the vehicles, and battery makers had to respond to the rising demand with massive expansion plans. The production-linked incentive scheme for advance-chemistry battery cell having received bids for 130GWh was a testimony to this demand. “Considering all these, there is a requirement for increasing the capacity from 50 GWh to 100 GWH for incentive support under the scheme,” the memorandum said.
As it was proposed to develop 4,000 acres in Ponneri taluk as the industrial node under the Union government’s Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) scheme, in association with the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust, the Tamil Nadu government sought transfer 2,000 acres of Salt Department land to TIDCO for being developed under the CBIC Ponneri Industrial Node Project on payment of land cost, as fixed earlier.
“The Union government must urgently intervene to control steel prices. The export of steel must be controlled and permitted only after the domestic needs are fulfilled at a reasonable price. The National Small Industries Corporation must be asked to buy steel in bulk and provide it to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on a no-profit, no-loss basis, so that they can benefit from the bulk discount. Steel manufactures should be asked to provide a 20% discount to MSMEs. SAIL must take the lead and announce that it will not increase steel prices in the next two months.”
The State government also requested that raw rice be stored in Food Corporation of India depots and permission be granted for drawing an equivalent quantity of boiled rice in exchange. This would be mutually beneficial, as many other States had a much higher requirement of raw rice.
The paddy procured by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) through direct purchase centres under the decentralised procurement system was hulled through the modern rice mills of the TNCSC and private hulling agencies. The resultant rice was adjusted against the Central Pool Allotment made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, and distributed through the Public Distribution System.
The TNCSC claimed reimbursement of custom milled rice subsidy from the Union government from 2018-19 to 2022-23. A total of ₹4,446.14 crore was yet to be released by the Union government, the memorandum said, requesting that the subsidy be released at the earliest.
