Tamil Nadu's Raining Entrepreneurs.

At the dawn of the liberal era in the early nineties, former chief minister, Ms J Jayalalithaa, during her address in the assembly, had dubbed the businessmen in the state as, “frogs in the well” for not venturing out in a big way by taking risks. After a decade, there is every reason for reversing the opinion if one goes by the “spirit of entrepreneurship” blooming across all segments — be it textiles, trade, automobiles, IT or entertainment. Entrepreneurship is thriving in Tamil Nadu. There was an overwhelming response to the first major initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry to showcase 108 successful first gen entrepreneurs. Tamil Nadu has its share of entrepreneurs across all segments. Still, it is viewed as a conservative state — filled with risk averse businessmen.

Not without reason. For even successful entrepreneurs have focused more on building their businesses, than publicising their successes. The result — venture capitalists have kept away, and new entrepreneurs don’t have any role models. R Ramaraj, chairman, CII task force on technology, innovation and entrepreneurship told ET, “The response has been good and we have received more than 1,000 applications. Compared to the north, Tamil Nadu is perceived to have a conservative culture. To draw in more VCs to the state, we need more role models”.

Nominations have poured in not only from traditional manufacturing but from diverse sectors like retailing, media, ICT, sports, education, healthcare, FMCGs, services etc. The entrepreneurial class is spread across major centres like Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Erode, Dindigul, Karur, Salem, Sivakasi, Tirupur, Trichy, Theni, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, etc.

In Chennai, those figuring in the list include: Dr PC Reddy (Apollo Hospitals), CK Ranganathan (CavinKare), R Subramaniam (Subiksha), Radhika Sarathumar (Radaan media works), Satish Babu (Universal), Jeppiar (Sathyabama university), C Subba Reddy (Ceebros), K Pandia Rajan (Ma Foi), Mahadevan (Hot Breads), Manirathnam (Madras Talkies), Vivek Anand (Fitness one), C Sivasankaran (Fresh ‘n’ Honest), GRK Reddy (Marg constructions), G Rajendran (GR), Mrs YG Parthasarathy (PSBB Schools), Soundarya Rajanikanth (Ocher Studios), Ranjani Manian (Global Adjustments), Ramani (Slash support), Adi Saravanan (Allsec). Those from Coimbatore include: SV Balasubramanian (Bannari Amman group), J Gowrishankar (Best Engineers), B Ashok (KG Information Systems), PC Durai Swami (Sakthi Masala), G Rajendran (CRI Pumps), N Palaniswami (Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital), Vijay Mohan ( Pricol), B Soundarajan ( Suguna Poultry), P Subramanian (Shanthi Gears), G Ramaswamy (Suguna group), PR Krishnakumar (The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy. The others names are: M Thaigarajan, Paramount Airways, Madurai, KP Natarajan of KPN, Erode, SK Mylanandam, SKM Egg , Erode), C Susindran, Sabare International, Karur, S Pasupathy, Karur KCP, Ponnudurai, Lion Dates, Trichy N Ravichandran, True Value Homes, Trichy, K Subburaj, Cethar Vessels, Trichy, N Chandran, Eastman exports, Tirupur, and A Sakthivel, Poppys knitwear, Tirupur. Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu said, “We are excited by the response. CII wants to celebrate the fast growing class of entrepreneurs spread across the state and project icons from different sectors to attract more investments”. Mr Srinivasan added that CII was bullish on Tamil Nadu remaining a robust economy. “It is the third largest economy in India and its GDP at the current price stood at $46 billion in 2005- 06. This would translate into $200 billion in terms of purchasing power parity”, he said. Members of the academia are equally optimistic about Tamil Nadu’s prospects on the entrepreneurial front.

M Sankaran, director, Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Trichy, said, “In societies where survival is not a big issue (like river basins), the degree of risk taking will be low. In societies where survival is a big issue (like Tirupur, Namakkal) where there are no rivers and livelihood is hard, the degree of risk taking will be high.” Prof M Victor Louis Anthuvan, director, Research, LIBA, who is involved with CII’s selection process said , “The initiative is important to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship. Tamil Nadu has its own bit of entrepreneurship. The way Coimbatore came up in the last 30-40 years is an example. Similarly, Namakkal developed its poultryrelated businesses. Sivakasi, has emerged a leader in crackers and safety matches”.

Tamil Nadu is passing through “unprecedented times” on the business front with its growing list of entrepreneurs . Present not only in Chennai but in Salem, Trichy, Madurai and other centres, they are all scaling up their businesses and identifying new markets”, said B Santhanam, managing director, Saint-Gobain Glass India. Santhanam said that one of the myths about Tamil Nadu is that it did not have adequate entrepreneurs. On the contrary, the state is known for its entrepreneurship in traditional industries like chemicals, textiles, automobile, besides trade.

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