Chapter III, Economy

What the chapter covers

Chapter III, Economy examines the economic base of Chennai City and the Chennai Metropolitan Area. It explains that Chennai shifted from trade and commerce towards administration and services by the early twentieth century, while manufacturing became important after Independence. More recently, Information Technology, Information Technology Enabling Service and Business Process Outsourcing industries have increased the role of the service sector.

The chapter is an economic and employment profile. It does not identify individual properties or set out development permissions, land use changes, fees or restrictions.

Main findings

The economic analysis draws mainly on Census of India data and employment information from the Commissionerate of Employment and Training, Chennai.

Key points include:

• The proportion of main workers in the Chennai Metropolitan Area was 30.74 percent in 1991 and 30.96 percent in 2001.
• In Chennai City, the corresponding participation rate increased from 30.50 percent in 1991 to 31.79 percent in 2001.
• Primary activities were declining in the peripheral areas as manufacturing and new economy industries emerged.
• The chapter reports a broader shift from manufacturing towards services, particularly Information Technology and other services.
• Non-workers represented 65.73 percent of the Chennai City population and 69.14 percent of the Chennai Metropolitan Area population during 2001.
• Total workers increased between 1991 and 2001, from 1,173,062 to 1,488,364 in Chennai City and from 1,675,512 to 2,519,278 across the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
• Chennai City was estimated to account for 10.94 percent of Tamil Nadu income. Together with estimated contributions from the parts of Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts within the metropolitan area, the Chennai Metropolitan Area was estimated to account for 16.21 percent of State income.

Organised and informal employment

The employment tables cover public and private organised sector employment in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts from 2000-01 to 2004-05. The chapter states that organised public sector employment in Chennai District increased over this period, while private sector employment decreased and total organised employment varied relatively little.

The informal sector is described as generally involving low wages and low skill levels. The supplied text identifies self-employed traders, hawkers and family based workers as part of that sector.

Relevance to property readers

Chapter III, Economy provides planning context about employment and economic change. A buyer, owner or professional cannot use it alone to determine a property's zoning, permitted development, approval status or title.