page_title: Chennai
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Chennai / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: tidel park
context_page_description: Chennai, also known as Madras, is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is one of the largest cultural, economic and educational centres of south India. According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the sixth-most populous city and fourth-most populous urban agglomeration in India. The city together with the adjoining regions constitutes the Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is the 36th-largest urban area by population in the world. The traditional and de facto gateway of South India, Chennai is among the most-visited Indian cities by foreign tourists. It was ranked the 43rd-most visited city in the world for the year 2015. The Quality of Living Survey rated Chennai as the safest city in India. Chennai attracts 45 percent of health tourists visiting India, and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. As such, it is termed "India's health capital". Chennai has the fifth-largest urban economy of India.
  Chennai had the third-largest expatriate population in India, at 35,000 in 2009, 82,790 in 2011 and estimated at over 100,000 by 2016.
context_section_description: Recent estimates of the economy of the entire Chennai Metropolitan Area range from $78.6 to $86 billion (PPP GDP), ranking it from fourth- to sixth-most productive metro area of India. Chennai has a broad industrial base in the automobile, computer, technology, hardware manufacturing and healthcare sectors. As of 2012, the city is India's second-largest exporter of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. A major part of India's automobile industry is located in and around the city thus earning it the nickname "Detroit of India". It is known as the Cultural Capital of South India and is the third-most visited city in India by international tourists according to Euromonitor. The city also serves as the location of the Madras Stock Exchange, India's fourth stock exchange, one of four permanently recognised by SEBI, and India's third-largest by trading volume, ranked behind the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
  Industrialisation in the city dates back to the 16th century, when textile mills manufactured goods which were exported to British during its war with France. According to Forbes magazine, Chennai is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world and is ranked among the "Forbes-Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities in the World". It is ranked 4th in hosting the maximum number of Fortune 500 companies of India, next only to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. It also is home to 24 Indian companies having a net worth of more than US$1 billion. As of 2012, the city has about 34,260 identified companies in its 15 zones, of which 5,196 companies have a paid-up the capital of over ₹ 50 lakh.
  Chennai has a diversified economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, hardware manufacturing, health care and financial services industries. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, Chennai is estimated to grow to a US$100 billion economy, 2.5 times its present size, by the year 2025. As of 2012, with ₹ 1 lakh crore investment in the pipeline over 5 years, the city is poised for major industrial investment. Chennai is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking of Beta based on the extent of global reach and financial influence. It is estimated that about 400 financial industry businesses are headquartered in the city, half of which are located in the areas of Mylapore, R. A. Puram, Nungambakkam and T. Nagar.
  The city is base to around 40 percent of India's automobile industry and 45 percent of auto components industry. A large number of automotive companies including Royal enfield, Hyundai, Renault, Robert Bosch, Nissan Motors, Ashok Leyland, Yamaha Motor, Daimler AG, Caterpillar Inc., Komatsu Limited, BharatBenz, Ford, BMW and Mitsubishi have manufacturing plants in Chennai. The Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi produces military vehicles, including India's main battle tank: Arjun MBT. The Integral Coach Factory manufactures railway coaches and other rolling stock for Indian Railways. The Ambattur–Padi industrial zone houses many textile manufacturers, and a special economic zone (SEZ) for apparel and footwear manufacturing has been set up in the southern suburbs of the city. Chennai contributes more than 50 percent of India's leather exports.
  Many software and software services companies have development centres in Chennai, which contributed 14 percent of India's total software exports of ₹ 14,42,140 lakh during 2006–07, making it the second largest Indian city software exporter following Bangalore. The Tidel Park in Chennai was billed as Asia's largest IT park when it was built. Major software companies have their offices set up here, with some of them making Chennai their largest base.
  Prominent financial institutions, including the World Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, ABN AMRO, Bank of America, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, HSBC, ING Group, Allianz, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Asian Development Bank, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas Fortis, Irevna, Deutsche Bank a
caption: Tidel Park
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