Ambattur Industrial Estate was the
second industrial estate to come up in the State of Madras (the first being the
Guindy Industrial Estate). It is the largest among the Industrial Estates in
South – East Asia, spreading over 1,300 acres and having more than 1,800 units.
This Industrial Estate, which became functional in 1964, boasts of a number of
automobile components manufacturers, which, in fact, forced one of the largest
truck manufacturers in the country, Tata Engineering & Locomotive co. Ltd.,
to open a procurement center in Madras to facilitate their purchases and
interaction with suppliers. The presence of so many auto components producers
was the prime reason for several international car producers to set up
manufacturing units in and around Madras.
The
architect behind this successful industrial contribution was R. Venkatraman, former
President of India, when he was the State’s Industries Minister for over ten
years. He had first promoted the Guindy Industrial Estate in 1958 – the first
of its kind in India – and it became an instant success. He began to think of
building on this success.
The state unit of the Congress Party
decided to host the AICC session in Madras in 19555 abd to hold it at Avadi. It
expected around 3,000 delegates to attend and arrangements to be made for their
accommodation and food close to the venue. It also expected over 30,000 persons
to attend the public meetings on each of the two days when all-India leaders like
Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel participated. There were no roads or
infrastructure of any kind and the whole area was totally barren land. Every
arrangement had to be made from scratch. The State Government took up the task
of laying a motorable road to connect the venue from the city and clear the
wild shrubbery in the vast area where the present Ambattur Estate is situated.
The plan was to put up tents to accommodate the delegates and have a common
kitchen to serve food to all of them. The plans included getting steam ovens,
which were introduced for the first time, to prepare hot idli-s for all on a
massive scale. For the stay of the Prime Minister and othe VVIPs, facilities
were put up at Perambur which including a railway siding from Perambur Railway
Station to take the guests directly to their place of stay.
The then Chief Minister of the
State, K. Kamaraj asked Venkataraman: "Venkatarama, you are using public
money on a massive scale for a Party session. Will not the public question you
tomorrow on this?". To which R.V. replied that the place where the delegates
were being housed would be made into an industrial estate to house a little
over 1,000 units employing around one lakh people, for which Kamaraj wondered
where he was going to find the entrepreneurs. R.V. told him that he was very
confident that, given the right kind of facilities and working climate, the
place would get filled up in no time and the State would be forced to build
more industrial states at various centers. He went on to explain that the place
where the VIPs would be staying could be used for building an extension to the
nearby Integral Coach Factory and that he had already discussed this with the
Railway Minister N. Gopalaswamy Iyengar, so the Railway siding would not go a
waste. The ICF's furnishing factory later would come up here. He also explained
that he had asked T.S. Krishna of the TVS Group to purchase the Padi lake area
to put up manufacturing units for automobile components, assuring him of help
to get the required licenses from the Centre. He was also requesting
T.T.Krishnamachari, the then Commerce minister, to persuade Dunlop, who was
thinking of a second unit, to put it in Ambattur. The Murugappa group had
agreed to set a cycle manufacturing unit in Avadi. These industrial units would
amply justify the expenditure on the roads and other infrastructure, he was
confident.
The Avadi session was thumping
success. It was a historical event in the annuals of the Congress party, where
the resolution that India would follow a "socialistic pattern of
society" was unanimously adopted. The highlight of the session was the
presence of Nikita Khruschev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union. Accompanying him was Nicholai Bulganin, the then president of
Soviet Union. They concluded their visit to India in order to be present at the
Avadi session and more than 50,000 people - much more than what the organizers
expected - thronged the venue, unmindful of the incessant drizzle and slushy
ground.
Courtesy: The Madras Musing.
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கே.எஸ்.இராதாகிருஷ்ணன்
13-07-2017
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