'Factory after factory after factory': Zoho's Sridhar Vembu praises Tirupur-Coimbatore belt, says 'must be studied carefully'

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu on Sunday called for a deeper national focus on Tamil Nadu’s industrial corridor, describing the Tirupur-Coimbatore belt as a manufacturing powerhouse that holds valuable lessons for India’s future.

“I am traveling on Avinashi Road, from Coimbatore, heading north east, crossing the Tirupur belt. In this entire region, in every village in the middle, there is the endless pattern of factory after factory after factory,” Vembu wrote on X.

“This region must be studied carefully and we must adopt the lessons across India. This region itself must now move higher in the value chain and in the last few days I have had discussions on manufacturing tech R&D. Stay tuned!”

His post comes amid a series of recent comments highlighting the shift underway in India’s manufacturing landscape. Earlier this week, Vembu responded to an update from Thomas Savan, who wrote about mid-sized firms in Maharashtra and Gujarat building high-precision machines that were once imported from Germany.

“I am very happy to see this tweet. It makes me want to go visit these companies! We have to demonstrate the ability to make complex machines that make advanced products and we need to make those machines affordable,” Vembu posted on X.

Savan had written, “Most of them are 500-1000 crore companies. The kind of work they are doing has to be seen to be believed. I went to a unit in Pune, they are now making the same machines they used to import from Germany to make super low tolerance metal parts. They are now exporting worldwide. White pills everywhere. These small/mid professionally run cos will change the face of Indian economy.”

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the Make in India initiative said that production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes have drawn Rs 1.5 lakh crore in investments and created 9.5 lakh jobs. She rejected criticism that Make in India programme had failed, saying it had boosted domestic manufacturing, including in defence, where India is now a net exporter.