Second edition of Vision 2023 document ready

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The second edition of Vision 2023 document has been prepared and would be announced by the state government soon, according to one of the brains behind the document.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Vision Tamil Nadu: Sustainable Infrastructure Development organized by Confederation of Indian Industry, managing director of ICRA Management Consulting Services Raghutamma Rao told Express on Tuesday that the second edition of Vision 2023 would be focusing on 300 projects.

He said the second document would focus on detailed sector reports besides project profiles. It will be a detailed roadmap which will delve on each sector where investment will be channelised to help realize state achieve the Numero Uno position in next 10 years. Interestingly, the government is also going to prepare the third and final document of Vision 2023. This would focus on implementation roadmap.

“These include the kind of reforms needed, how to attract foreign direct investment and others etc,” he added.

He said the government has already formed Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board, which would monitor the projects under the second vision document. The government has proposed to invest Rs 15 lakh crore to realize Vision 2023 formulated by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Rao said that the government would be taking up 25-30 projects in education sector under the Phase II of Vision 2023. He said the government is well financially to realize the dream.

Interestingly, the Vision document addresses the inter-play amongst three key components of development, namely -- What should be the long term growth objectives of Tamil Nadu?;What are the inputs required in terms of infrastructure, investments and policies?; and what should be the targeted output mix in terms of economic income, sectoral composition and pace of growth besides looking at how should the benefits be distributed in society and what should be the balance between development and environment.

Earlier delivering the special address, Rao said that the state is focusing on achieving a growth of 22 to 23 per cent in manufacturing growth which is essential to absorb the excessive labour, including the migrants from other states.

The official said the document would also have a special focus on the farm sector, helping farmers partner with industry in increasing the yield of their land.

Former chairman of ICICI bank Narayanan Vaghul hailed the Vision 2023 document. He said the Vision 2023 could be realized through efficient action and ability to execute it. These include speedy clearances of land, getting adequate raw materials and a bureaucracy free from red tape, he added.

He said India has been harping on development of infrastructure since the new economic policy was announced. “Still after two decades, we have not been able to develop our infrastructure. India has everything from finances to skilled manpower but red tape thwarts the nation’s development,” he added.

Sangeeta Prasad, convenor of Physical Infrastructure Panel CII Tamil Nadu and chief executive officer of Mahindra World City Developers also spoke during the occasion.