The Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has urged the Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa to nominate Tirupur in the smart city programme and recommend it to the centre for inclusion in the current financial year and make it one among the 100 smart cities.
TEA’s request came a day after the central government announced that Tamil Nadu can nominate 12 cities to be developed as smart cities.
In a letter to the chief minister, TEA president, A Sakthivel said that Tirupur which is India’s knitwear export hub and contributes 10 per cent of total exports from Tamil Nadu, needs infrastructure development and IT facilities for the growth of exports and requested Jayalalithaa to nominate Tirupur under the smart city programme.
Sakthivel also highlighted the fact knitwear exports from Tirupur touched Rs.20, 730 crore in 2014 – 15 and is poised to reach Rs.36, 000 crore in the next two years. He said better infrastructure facility in Tirupur would not only enhance the exports but also provide additional employment to workers, mainly women from rural areas.
Nominating Tirupur as a smart city can take care of demands for implementation of information technology for faster business decision making and efficient communication and a better quality of life, Sakthivel added.
