Stalin wants Chennai as new financial hub

CHENNAI: Based on an idea put forwardby deputy chief minister M K Stalin, the state government is working on a planto project Chennai as a potential financial hub. In his first stintas Chennai���s mayor in 1996, it was Stalin who branded the city as���Singara Chennai��� (beautiful Chennai) before embarking on amodernisation plan. Now, at the seat of power at Fort St George inhis new capacity as deputy CM of Tamil Nadu, Stalin seems to be keen to ensurethe state draws more investments and facilities in the financial sector.Though government officials are refusing to divulge details, Stalinis apparently keen to nurture an ecosystem of banks and financial institutions.���It is only an idea, but the deputy chief minister wants to make thishappen. It might sound a long shot now, but the first step is ideation in anyprocess which is happening now,��� sources said. Sources saidthe deputy chief minister wanted a study commissioned to explore the possibilityof realising this vision and to prepare a roadmap for this purpose. Officials atthe trade body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said they had so farnot been approached for consultation, but added, ���We are working towards asimilar goal.���Essentially, the plan would aim at leveragingthe city���s growing clout as a favourable destination for electronicmanufacturing services (EMS) and automobiles. The city is alreadythe first port of call for investments in these two sectors. Over the lastdecade, the city has also seen a concentration of business process outsourcing(BPO) activities and software services. Similarly, if more financial activitiesare diverted to Chennai, the possibility of the city emerging as a financial hubgets stronger. ���A place like Chennai, if it provides that kindof an ecosystem, a lot more players like investors and lenders can trade, andcorporates can raise money here. In India, any company that wants to raise moneyhas to go to Mumbai... there is no alternative financial hub,��� KRamakrishnan, CEO of Spark Capital said.