Gainful Investments

Tamil Nadu’s capital city is a key economic hub of India. Neha Gupta Kapoor explains what makes it globally attractive.

- Neha Gupta Kapoor

Counted amongst one of the six metropolises of India, on the southeast coast is Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. While each of these tier-I cities have a unique touristic charm to them — Bengaluru’s vibrant bar scene, Delhi’s food and art, Hyderabad’s Nizami heritage, Kolkata’s colonial structures, Mumbai’s glamour — the main category of tourism that Chennai welcomes is medical.

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Chennai International Airport receives a sizeable chunk of leisure tourists too, but mostly those whose onward travel plans include the picturesque and heritage towns of Puducherry (150km) and Mahabalipuram (55km). In 2015-16 the airport handled 15.3 million passengers. Numbers also include tourists in transit to Coimbatore (70 minutes by flight) that connects to only three international destinations. From Coimbatore people continue to Ooty and other hill stations. Thus, Chennai naturally becomes the airport hub for Tamil Nadu, and also the gateway to South India, being nearest to most holiday towns in the region.