Transform Chennai into a world-class city that provides great quality of service and infrastructure to all its citizens.

MAP

Our Regional Vision

Most major cities (Chennai included) are experiencing rapid urbanization. The quality of life for citizens across the socio economic spectrum is in decline. Challenges in provisioning water supply, sanitation, public transport, health, education impacts all citizens, particularly those in the economically weaker sections.

Broadly, two development routes exist for improving Chennai. One, we can tinker with improving public service delivery by working on select initiatives for Chennai city. This could marginally impact the living conditions. Any limited success will draw more migrants into Chennai stretching the city’s physical and social infrastructure. The current ‘creeping’ Chennai expansion model is leading to haphazard development patterns. This is likely to lead to lasting long term problems in managing increased citizen aspirations and needs.

The alternate route is to envision the future and develop Chennai, including surrounding towns and villages, in a holistic manner. The vision is to take a Regional Perspective and integrate nearby towns with Chennai based on a hub and spokes model, with Chennai as the hub and towns like Marakonam, Arakonam and Pulicat (MAP) as spokes. These towns, among others, should be linked to Chennai with high-speed rail and road transport corridors.

MAP area is around 5000 sq kms, spreads over five districts and encompasses urban and rural areas. As shown in the diagram below, this area is already home to numerous industrial cultural and socio-economic clusters. Connecting these clusters and towns to Chennai and its engines of growth can produce tremendous benefits to all citizens in the MAP region. This will also facilitate government, industry and social organisations to develop these and future clusters into respective centres of excellence. This approach has the potential to check unplanned growth of Chennai and encourage ‘live and work’ clusters in the region. Also, it will distribute future prosperity over a larger geographical area and empower local citizens in the region.

Infrastructure connectivity will have to be complemented with appropriate governance structure that allows for decentralized jurisdictional authorities to function under a common framework, aligned for achieving the vision.

The vision of MAP complements and facilitates Vision 2011 – The New Industrial Policy 2007, Government of Tamil Nadu which states:

• To create an additional 2 million jobs by 2011.
• To raise contribution to GSDP from manufacturing sector from 21% to 27% by 2011.
• To double Tamil Nadu annual exports to Rs 140,000 crores.
• To raise Tamil Nadu to a position of pre-eminence in innovation and high technology.
• To raise the competitiveness and efficiency of small and medium enterprises and agro based industries for increasing value addition and giving better income to the farmers.

Key features of MAP

• High-speed rail and road (8 lane provision) transport corridor connecting 8-10 nodes (including C-MAP).
• Sustainable communities encompassing places of work, stay and assembly
• Clusters of economic activity and livelihood possibilities (with appropriate skill training) for the local communities.
• Proactive physical and social infrastructure provisioning.
• Ability to attract private capital for the regional development plan through enabling frameworks for Public Private Participation (PPP).

Significant benefits to the MAP approach

• Transportation network connecting C-MAP cities and towns will enable them to develop and thereby become catalyst for surrounding rural areas.
• Will ease the growing pressures on Chennai given the ‘magnetic’ nature of Chennai due to the current economic growth model.
• Sustainable clusters can develop across MAP region. Local communities in these clusters will be beneficiaries of regional development by having a stake in the local development. This will benefit local citizens by providing greater economic opportunities to leverage local comparative advantage.
• Provide catalyst for industry to provide skill development initiatives.
• Greater scope for meeting local aspirations within this distributed development model in contrast to focusing only on a greater Chennai.
• MAP will benefit all sections of society, particularly the economically and socially disadvantaged, with greater opportunity to participate in overall development.
• With a regional governance structure and conducive public policy, private capital through PPP can fund regional development.

Chennai City Connect in coordination with all its members will play an active role in making the MAP vision a reality. This will include developing comprehensive regional master plan, taking into account current and future demographics, energy use and other key growth and development indicators, with the following key points as objectives.

• Provide social and physical infrastructure.
• Execution of the master plan strategy in phased manner for period of 15-20 years.
• Address need of decongesting Chennai city.
• Create opportunity for 3 lakhs houses in the MAP area.
• 200km corridor to attract FDIs to the tune of $15B and other investments.
• Connects 20 blocks in MAP area creating rural business hubs.
• Hubs to disseminate knowledge to the rural areas and improve skills of labour force.
• Assurance of 24X7 power supply, water supply and maintained sewerage system.
• Generate 7.2M jobs, both skilled and unskilled in MAP area.
• High-speed internet connectivity to ensure E-governance among the 20 blocks.
• Create area of high employment opportunities for all classes of people.
• Conservation of wetlands for agriculture and exploiting under utilized dry lands for development.
• Establish and build capacity of regional planning authority and governance structure to accommodate multiple districts, urban-rural belts.
• Dynamic and flexible master plan to meet emergent needs of the region.
• Fair and transparent land acquisition with adequate and innovative rehabilitation measures.
• Clarity in PPP policy and implementation.
• Plan for infrastructure road map for long term with roll out based on demand.
• Implement road and transport grid connectivity within region, particularly with and within Chennai.
• Truly inclusive plan with special focus on the under privileged in terms of infrastructure, skill training, livelihood, etc.