Stalin to lead delegation to Singapore to seek expertise, support for Financial City

CHENNAI:Soon after finalising a sprawling 180-acre site on the bustling IT corridor inSholinganallur for his pet project, Financial City, deputy chief minister M KStalin, who also heads the industry department, will soon lead a delegation toSingapore to study the model and seek expertise andsupport.Travelling on an invitation from the Singapore government,which has created a modern economy based on industry, education and urbanplanning, Stalin's team will include industry secretary MF Farooqui, principalsecretary K Deenabandu and PWD secretary S Ramasundaram. They will arrive inSingapore on November 23."The idea for establishing a financial cityis gaining momentum. It's an exploratory trip. We do not plan to compete withSingapore, but possibly to complement their activity in a way such that they canmove certain functions here," Stalin told The Times of India.The TNteam is likely to showcase the potential and advantages of the proposed site,where a lot of hectic development is taking place in areas of IT and alliedbanking and financial services. The identified area for Financial City enjoyssufficient housing stock, has good roads and a hospital network aswell.Stalin said that the Tamil Nadu Industrial DevelopmentCorporation would soon appoint consultants for the project. Their mission willbe to identify core sectors and to prepare a plan for the overall developmentand land use of the 180-acre site.Intially, a landmark building willcome up at a 25-acre site and a global partner will be selected for floating aspecial purpose vehicle. Like TIDEL Park, space in the iconic buidling will bemade available to financial institutions for select operations. The globalpartner will be selected through a transparent process and land will be used tohouse a world-class actuarial science institute, where courses in riskmanagement in insurance and financial sectors will be offered.WithSingapore competing against New York and London in the financial servicessector, Tamil Nadu wanted to explore the models adopted by the Asian country."They may have space and manpower constraints. For them, Chennai may be an ideallocation for some of their low-end financial service modules, such as processingof accounts and documentation," remarked a senior official.For thepublic-private-partnership project, Stalin said the state would approach theCentral government when it required help for creating infrastructure necessaryfor Financial City and thereafter. DMK district secretary, S S Palanimanickam,the Union minister of state for finance, may lend a helping hand to the state infinding some investors, including banking and insurance giants.Theglobal partner, identified for the public-private-partnership project, would notbe an expert in construction but an entity able attract financial institutionsto Chennai, sources said.