The information technology and biotechnology sectors in Tamil Nadu owe the DMK government of 1996-2001 a great debt. Under M Karunanidhi, that government took the first steps in policy and infrastructure to aid the development of both IT and BT.

A separate IT Department was set up in 1998, and a task force created to draw up a policy framework to attract investments to the IT sector. A thrust was given to computer education in schools and colleges, and e-governance.

It was during this regime that Chennai’s first dedicated software space, an IT park, was created.

The Tidel Park, a joint venture between TIDCO and ELCOT, both State-run agencies, established the 1.2 million sq ft facility at a cost of ₹340 crore. The foundation for the formation of the IT Corridor, as the Old Mahabalipuram Road came to be called, coincided with the creation of this facility. A 1,000-acre IT park was also created at Siruseri, about 30 km down the IT corridor.

Boost to biotechnology

The Tamil Nadu Biotechnology Board was established in November 2000, and so was a 20-acre Women’s Biotechnology Park in Siruseri for units to set up shop to produce processed agricultural products, food and medical products for the domestic and export markets.

The government also announced plans for the Ticel Bio Park in Chennai. The focus on the knowledge industry began during the formative years of the DMK in power.

Thrust to the sciences

In 1971, the then Karunanidhi government established an agriculture university and brought under its umbrella the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, the Agricultural College, Madurai, and other allied institutions for focussed attention on farming studies. It was under a later DMK government that the Veterinary and Animal Sciences University was carved out of the Agricultural University.

A number of technical universities were established in multiple locations, such as Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.

Impetus to industry

Previously, as the party in power in the formative stages of Tamil Nadu, the DMK government was responsible for laying the foundation of public sector agencies that contributed to the subsequent development of the State.

The manufacturing sector was also given a boost.

From the 1970s, the DMK government established the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu, a government agency to create dedicated, developed industrial space for manufacturing. This carried forward the initiative of the previous Congress government in establishing industrial estates in Chennai’s suburbs.

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