Tamil Nadu, Kerala to collaborate on developing tourism, startup, other sectors

Tamil Nadu and Kerala signed an agreement on co-operation in several sectors including the blue economy, start-ups, tourism, and digital governance, among others. Official delegations from both States met in Chennai on Monday and deliberated on the possible areas of co-operation.

The teams were led by Tamil Nadu industries minister TRB Rajaa and his Kerala counterpart P Rajeeve. This meeting comes two weeks after they met in Delhi at the Udyog Samagam event held with the aim of promoting industrial growth.

"Delighted that Kerala & Tamil Nadu are building a model for inter-state cooperation that is collaborative, positive & focussed on results," said Rajaa in a post on X. He said it was only on November 11 that Rajeeve and he had discussed working together on industry and technology.

What was represented on Monday was real proposals with a clear way forward, said Rajaa. In his X post, Rajeeve added: What began as an informal Delhi conversation has graduated into a structured and forward-looking dialogue.

"Our recent meeting in Chennai, held in the presence of senior officials from both states, further reaffirmed the belief that true progress comes not from competition but from healthy, purposeful collaboration," Rajeev, who also holds the state law and coir portfolios, said. Both the ministers credited their respective chief ministers-MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan-for nudging them towards a long-standing partnership. Stalin, Rajaa said, believed that cooperation between strong states would lead to an enduring partnership, while Rajeeve said the latest meeting reflected his CM's vision on partnering with other states to realize progress. 

Both the teams identified more than five important sectors, including PSUs, where they could collaborate and create new avenues for joint development. "Sectors like technology, startups, innovation, and advanced manufacturing offer enormous potential for shared growth. We will prepare a detailed master plan in due course, detailing the framework for cooperation. 

This partnership is the beginning of a shared journey that can strengthen industries, create new opportunities for entrepreneurs, and offer wider economic benefits across south India," the Kerala industries minister said. Rajeeve told ET that Kerala would host the next meeting in January and both the sides would form a team to take the initiative forward. At the Udyog Samagam in Delhi last month, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said each state in the country has evolved best practices in one area or another which could be a model for the others, and that the country can speed up industrial advancement by learning from each other.