The economy of
Tiruchirappalli
Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
is mainly industrial. The factories of
Ordnance Factories Board
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Gove ...
such as
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory Bo ...
and
Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project
The High Energy Projectile Factory (HEPF) is an artillery ammunition factory operated by Munitions India Limited. It was previously part the erstwhile Ordnance Factories Board of the Government of India the factory is located about 25 kilometr ...
.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It is based in New Delhi, India. Established in 1956, BHEL is India' ...
(BHEL), and
Golden Rock Railway Workshop
The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock, abbreviated GOC), in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is one of three railway workshops serving Indian Railways' Southern Railway zone. The w ...
are located in Tiruchirappalli. Due to the presence of boiler manufacturing units BHEL and Cethar Vessels, Tiruchirappalli is also known as the "Boiler capital of India".
Cigars
Tiruchirappalli was popular throughout the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
for its unique variety of ''
cheroot
The cheroot is a filterless cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture. Since cheroots do not taper, they are inexpensive to roll mechanically, and their low cost makes them popular.
The word 'cheroot' probably comes via Portugu ...
'' known as the
Trichinopoly cigar
Trichinopoly cigar, also called Trichies or Tritchies, is a type of cheroot associated with the town of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. The Trichinopoly cigar was actually manufactured from tobacco grown near the town of Dindigul near the pr ...
.
The Trichinopoly cigar was actually manufactured from tobacco grown near the town of
Dindigul
Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...
near the present-day Tiruchirappalli.
The characteristics of the ashes produced by the fabled Trichinopoly are described by
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
's fictitious detective
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
in his 1887 novel ''
A Study in Scarlet
''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in literature. The book's title deri ...
''. At its peak, over 12 million cigars were manufactured and exported annually.
Tanned hides and skins from Tiruchirappalli were exported to the UK.
['']The Imperial Gazetteer of India
''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'', Vol 24, p 36
Markets
The city has a number of retail and wholesale markets, the chief among them being the Gandhi market which is an important source of vegetables
for the whole region.
Retail chains
Popular textile stores like ''
The Chennai Silks
The Chennai Silks is chain of retail textile shops in South India.
History
Its founder Thiru. A. Kulandaivel Mudaliar.He was lived in the village near avinashi. entered the business in 1962. However its first textile shop was started in Tirup ...
'',
Pothys
Pothys is a chain of textile showrooms in South India. Originally they exclusively sold silk sarees, but today all types of garments are sold. The flagship store in Chennai is called Pothys' Palace.
History
Pothys (stylised as POTHYS) was ...
and ''
Naidu Hall
Naidu Hall from 1939 is an Indian retailer of Men, women and children's wear and wardrobe store based in the city of Tamil Nadu.
History
In 1939, a pioneer from a humble, hardworking background had a visionary dream of empowering Indian woman ...
''
and jewellery stores JOYALUKKAS and Jos Alukkas
have showrooms in Tiruchirappalli. There are also branches of Chennai-based eatery
Adyar Ananda Bhavan
Adyar Ananda Bhavan (also known as AAB) is a chain of vegetarian restaurants and confectioners founded in Rajapalayam and headquartered in Adyar, Chennai, India. It is the oldest such chain in Chennai and has 145+ outlets across India. Over th ...
.
Drapery Silks
Industries
Tiruchirappalli is a major engineering equipment manufacturing hub in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. The
Golden Rock Railway Workshop
The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock, abbreviated GOC), in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is one of three railway workshops serving Indian Railways' Southern Railway zone. The w ...
, moved to Tiruchirappalli from
Nagapattinam
Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...
in 1928, is one of the three railway
workshop
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
–cum–production unit in Tamil Nadu.
The workshops produced 650 conventional and low-container flat wagons during the year 2007-08.
The chief workshop manager's office at Golden Rock was awarded a star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for the proper and regulated usage of electricity in its offices.
A High Pressure Boiler manufacturing plant was set up by the
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It is based in New Delhi, India. Established in 1956, BHEL is India' ...
(BHEL), India's largest public sector engineering company, in May 1965.
This was followed by a Seamless Steel Plant set up at a cost of and a Boiler Auxiliaries Plant. The three manufacturing units constitute the BHEL industrial complex and cover a total area of about . The plant can generate up to of electricity using coal as a resource.
Other important industries in Tiruchirappalli include the Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) which was established at
Senthaneerpuram
Senthaneerpuram is an industrial neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. It forms a part of the Golden Rock zone of the Tiruchirappalli Municipal Corporation. The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited (TDCL) was ...
in the then
Golden Rock municipality in 1966.
and the Trichy Steel Rolling Mills which was started as a private limited company on 27 June 1961.
The Trichy Distilleries and Chemicals Limited manufactures
rectified spirit
Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countr ...
,
acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the mos ...
,
acetic acid
Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
,
acetic anhydride
Acetic anhydride, or ethanoic anhydride, is the chemical compound with the formula (CH3CO)2O. Commonly abbreviated Ac2O, it is the simplest isolable anhydride of a carboxylic acid and is widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is a col ...
and
ethyl acetate
Ethyl acetate ( systematically ethyl ethanoate, commonly abbreviated EtOAc, ETAC or EA) is the organic compound with the formula , simplified to . This colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell (similar to pear drops) and is used in glues ...
. It is one of the biggest private sector distilleries in Tamil Nadu and produced 13.5 million litres of
spirit alcohol between December 2005 and November 2006.
Cethar Vessels is a boiler plant based in Tiruchirappalli. It was established in the year 1981 and started manufacturing activities in 1984. Achieved a sales turnover of in 2007–2008. Present net worth of the company is . Cethar Vessels are in the fore front of meeting the requirements of a wide spectrum of industry with their products and services. Be it Boilers for Power Generation or for Steam Generation in Process Industries, Cethar have the expertise and experience of over two decades. Boiler Auxiliaries that include Fans, Electrostatic Precipitator, Cooling Towers, Fuel Handling Systems, and Water Treatment Systems are also in our repertoire. Cethar's capable personnel have the expertise to build Power Plants whether Captive or Co-Generation mode, in an EPC Basis. The needs of Industries such as Paper, Chemical, Steel, Cement, Distilleries, Textiles, Rayons, Sugar, Food, PetroChemicals and various other Process industries, can be met by Cethar with their modern Boiler Technologies.
Weapon manufacturing units
The
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory Bo ...
(OFT) and
Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project
The High Energy Projectile Factory (HEPF) is an artillery ammunition factory operated by Munitions India Limited. It was previously part the erstwhile Ordnance Factories Board of the Government of India the factory is located about 25 kilometr ...
(HAPP) are defence establishments, operated by the Indian
Ordnance Factories Board
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Gove ...
located at a distance of about from the heart of Tiruchirappalli.
They are amongst the 41 Indian Ordnance Factories operated by the OFB throughout India. OFT was established in 1966 by the then Prime Minister of India,
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
and HAPP in 1980s as a unit of
Defence Research and Development Organisation
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India ...
in collaboration with other government defence agencies and under the assistance of some foreign partners. It was later on handed over to OFB after full scale development of the product was completed, to start the full-scale production. The factory produces the ''Fin Stabilized Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot'' (FSAPDS) which is a weapon of high kinetic energy used in tanks and other armor-piercing ammunition.
Software
The annual software exports of the Tiruchi region amount to 262 million (
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5.8 million).
The ELCOT IT Park, the first IT park in the city has been commissioned at a cost of 600 million (
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
13.5 million) and inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,
M. K. Stalin
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin ( , born 1 March 1953), often referred to by his initials MKS, is an Indian Tamil politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin ...
on 9 December 2010.
Set up by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the park occupies an area of and constitutes a
Special Economic Zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
that has employs 1535 people in the various organizations functioning from the IT park as of December 2021.
In 2017, the hyperautomation services company,
Vuram
WNS (Holdings) Limited () is a global business process management company headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company has its expansion with 60 delivery centers worldwide.
History
WNS was founded in 1996 by British Airways as Speedwing World ...
that specializes in low-code enterprise automation started operations at the
ELCOT IT Park Trichy
ELCOT IT Park Trichy is an information technology (IT) park in the city of Tiruchirappalli, India. It was set up in 2010 as part of an effort to foster the growth of information technology in various cities of Tamil Nadu by Electronics Corpor ...
. The organization's technology stack encompasses business process management (BPM), robotic process automation (RPA), optical character recognition (OCR), document processing, and analytics. The organization has announced that it will continue to expand its workforce in the region hiring 400 more employees across India. Also, the Indian software company
Infosys
Infosys Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Ba ...
, is planning to start its operations in Tiruchirappalli.
Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic and CSR arm of Infosys, has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) - Tiruchirapalli to construct a 100-bed hostel for girls on their campus.
References
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