The Tamil Nadu government should explore various options for a larger airport in Chennai, said Ravichandran Purushothaman, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region.A CII delegation had met Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay after he assumed office. “We did not specifically demand an airport at Parandur. The government should look at multiple options, including development of airports jointly with the Puducherry or Andhra Pradesh governments and expanding the existing airport at Meenambakkam. An airport is an engine of growth and hence, its development is important,” he said.The CII Southern Region is continuing its activities under the theme “Accelerating Competitiveness in Southern India” and has constituted eight committees. Almost 70% of the CII members in the Southern Region and in Tamil Nadu are in the MSME sector. There should be systems to ensure ease of doing business for these units. The MSMEs need to be equipped for digital transformation and they should be supported so that they benefit from the free trade agreements that India is signing with various countries.There is also a need to skill manpower so that they move into high value jobs and have better infrastructure, be it roads, airports, or ports. In Tamil Nadu, power cost should reduce by ₹2 a unit in three years for industries so that they are competitive. This can be done by tapping solar energy. On the agriculture front, value addition will bring better revenue. The potential of aquaculture sector is huge in Tamil Nadu and it has to be harnessed. Another area of opportunity is sports, Mr. Purushothaman said.According C. Devarajan, chairman of CII - Tamil Nadu, an MSME conclave will be held in Erode on July 10 and the officials from the MSME ministries in the Centre and State are expected to attend. About 10 engineering colleges that have business incubation centres will be linked with the industries to help the MSMEs overcome several challenges. Nearly 300 MSMEs from the western region of the State are expected to take part, he said. Published - July 02, 2026 07:41 pm IST