Growth of Coimbatore
Coimbatore is the highest revenue yielding district in Tamil Nadu, surpassing Chennai, the capital city, due to the ever-increasing commercial, industrial and business activities in and around Coimbatore city, and the city is also the fastest-growing second-tier metro city in India. There are two special economic zones in Coimbatore city, viz., Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure (CHIL) SEZ and the Tidel Park, one of the largest software parks in India. There is also a permanent trade fair ground, COINTEC, owned by CODISSIA (Coimbatore, District Small Industries Association) which the largest pillar-free hall in the country.
The industrial growth of Coimbatore had many positive reasons that all know or guess when it began to grow. These may include the competitive spirit that was community-triggered and inherited, the high-quality educational institutions, salubrious climate and so on. But one reason was negative and it was that the soil in and around Coimbatore was not good for food production and was suited for cotton cultivation. So cotton was cultivated and resulted in the setting up of cotton spinning mills two centuries ago.
Gradually, more mills came here due to the availability of cotton and Coimbatore became widely known as 'the Manchester of the South'. The machines came from abroad or Bombay and gradually began to be made here. Spare parts began to be made in Coimbatore and later full-fledged machineries were made, making Coimbatore a textile-manufacturing machinery base. In the process it also became a prime foundry base for manufacture of agricultural, industrial and domestic pumps in India.
The cotton-yarn manufacturing strength of Coimbatore enhanced weaving capability in the adjoining areas including Tiruppur. The foundry capability of Coimbatore led to the manufacture of wet grinders, lathes, drilling machines, welding machines and so on. Later on it spread to the manufacture of gear-based machineries and Coimbatore became a reliable base for supply of auto-components for the whole country. Diversification led to gold jewellery manufacturing and furniture manufacturing.
Coimbatore is the second largest software producer in Tamil Nadu, next only to Chennai. IT and BPO industry in the city has grown greatly with the launch of TIDEL Park and other planned IT parks. Companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, IBM, Robert Bosch GmbH, Dell, Aditi Technologies, CSS Corp and KGISL have significant presence in the city. Software exports stood at 710.66 Crores (7.1 billion) for the financial year 2009-10 up 90% from the previous year. Coimbatore is ranked at 17th among the global outsourcing cities. It is also the largest non-metro city for e-commerce in the South.
The manufacturing sector in Coimbatore is also strong with research institutes like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, SITRA and large number of engineering colleges producing about 50,000 engineers. Some of the prominent industries in Coimbatore include L&T, BOSCH, PSG, Sakthi group, Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW), Premier Instruments & Control Limited (PRICOL), Premier Evolvics, Janatics, LGB, Revathi Equipment Ltd, ELGI Equipments, Craftsman Automation Pvt Ltd, Shanthi Gears and Roots Industries. Wind Energy major Suzlon has set up a foundry & machine shop in Coimbatore and Hansen Transmission, a Belgian Company which manufactures gearboxes for windmills, is setting up a plant here with an investment of 940 cr.
In the manufacturing of automotive components Coimbatore has a large presence. Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors source up to 30% of their automotive components from Coimbatore. Besides, Robert Bosch GmbH, PRICOL and Roots Industries have their units in Coimbatore. Coimbatore has more than 700 wet grinder manufacturers with a monthly output of 75,000 unit as of March 2005 and Coimbatore motor and pump manufacturing industry supplies over 40% of India's requirements.
With over 3000 Jewellery manufacturing units and over 40000 goldsmiths, Coimbatore is one of the major gold jewellery manufacturing hubs in India, renowned for making cast jewellery and machine made jewellery. It is also a major diamond cutting centre in South India. Kirtilal's of Coimbatore have their manufacturing base in Coimbatore. Owing to the presence of a large number of jewellery manufacturers and the strong engineering base, the city is home to a number of companies manufacturing jewellery making machinery.
The City also has some of the oldest flour mills in India. The large scale flour mills, which cater to all the southern states, have a combined grinding capacity of more than 50,000 MT per month. In the recent years, the city has seen growth in the hospitality industry with more upscale hotels being set up like Vivanta by Taj (Old Surya Internatopnal), Hilton Garden Inn and Le Meridien, four star hotels like Aloft and several three star hotels.
Coimbatore has trade associations like CODISSIA, COINDIA, SITRA and COJEWEL representing industries in the city. Coimbatore also has a 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2) trade fair ground, built in 1999. It was named COINTEC due to its hosting of INTEC (Small Industries Exhibition). The Trade Fair complex, one of the country's largest, is owned by CODISSIA (Coimbatore District Small Industries Association) is also the country's largest pillar-free hall, according to the Limca Book of Records.
Though slightly outdated, the break-up figures for 2004 can throw some light on the economic scenario of Coimbatore District:
Textiles Sector
Engineering Sector
40% of India's total production of Pumps
30% of India's total spinning work
20% of India's automobile components
