Padma Bhushan, Mr. Mahalingam's request
Industrialist N. Mahalingam called for reduction in luxury spending for the country to develop further and be competitive in the international market. Speaking at a function organised here to felicitate him on being conferred the Padma Bhushan, Mr. Mahalingam said that Coimbatore was a self-made industrial city and the entrepreneurs here had shared their profits in creating social infrastructure such as hospitals and educational institutions. The Government should have established a large-scale engineering unit here and that would have boosted the development of the small-scale industries. Spending on luxury items had increased over the years.Columnist S. Gurumoorthy said that personalities such as N. Mahalingam and G.K. Sundaram were exemplary men. The programme was organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, Confederation of Indian Industry, The Coimbatore Productivity Council, The Institute of Indian Foundrymen and the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association.