Inaugurating Zetwerk Electronics' seventh manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, in the outskirts of Chennai today, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in his own diplomatic way, made efforts to soften the fiery language war that is going on in the state over alleged imposition of Hindi.
Very delicately wording his thoughts, he started off saying how his professor, named Sadagopan (a Tamilian), at IIT-Kanpur was instrumental in exposing him to the various facets of Tamil language, its culture and its ancient heritage, and said it is a great language. "It is a very sweet language. We all respect Tamil Culture, Tamil language and this is one of the assets of the world, and let us take pride in that," he said.
He continued saying that is exactly the spirit with which the PM is working today, making sure that every Indian language gets its big place under the sun, making sure that they get their due respect, making sure that they get the exposure they deserve.
He finally laced the topic by saying we have to make sure language barriers do not come up as impediments in our way of friendship and relationship between different civilisations, between our own brothers and sisters. "We all should look at the goal of making our country very strong, making sure that we become the third largest economy, making sure that the world recognises our soft power," he added.
Later, he highlighted how the electronics industry has become the country's second largest export sector, surpassing several traditional industries in the past decade. Zetwerk Electronics co-founder, Rahul Sharma noted that the new plant is the company’s seventh in India and is part of a Rs 1,000 crore investment. The Sriperumbudur facility, located in a key industrial zone, is expected to employ approximately 1,500 people.
In an effort to give fillip to electronics manufacturing, Vaishnaw said the Central government will invest Rs 1,112 crore to establish two electronics manufacturing clusters in Tamil Nadu. "One facility will come up in Pillaipakkam (Kancheepuram) and the other at Manalur (Thiruvallur district). They will be large electronics manufacturing clusters and these two will give a big growth to Tamil Nadu and to the country," he said in his address.
Vaishnaw also thanked state governments, including Tamil Nadu, for their support in boosting India's electronic exports and acknowledged their efforts in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of transforming the domestic electronics market into a $500 billion industry.
Vaishnaw, who is also the Union Railways Minister, claimed that the budget allocation for railways in Tamil Nadu was 'miniscule' during the previous UPA regime, whereas under the NDA regime, Rs 6,636 crore has been allotted in the last 10 years.