Date:04/08/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/08/04/stories/2005080401551900.htm

Back Chennai's chemical corner — an extended mall

R. Balaji

A row of chemical and perfume shops at Nyniappa Street. — Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , Aug. 3

Shop-filled streets bustling with activity, vehicles, pedestrians and roadside vendors, buildings that house businesses as old as Chennai itself... that's Parry's for you.

Nyniappa (Naicken) Street near `Kandakottam,' the centuries-old Murugan Temple, is one such street that makes the area — the city's oldest central business district — what it is.

Near the temple a row of shops sell household goods ranging from stainless steel and aluminium vessels to rattraps. An assortment of smells, from the pleasant to the pungent and acidic, fills the air. This is the centre for retail and semi wholesale chemical trade. Nyniappa (Naicken) Street and the neighbouring Govindappa (Naicken) Street, where the wholesale business is concentrated, together account for more than 90 per cent of the trade in Chennai.

According to the Tamil Nadu Dyes and Chemical Merchants Association, in its Golden Jubilee this year, a majority of the city's 400 chemicals traders are present in the two streets. The shops not only sell domestic stocks but also imported material from global firms.

Mr C. Hiralal Metha, a partner at H. Chandanmal & Co, says his company was among the first to set up shop in the area in 1929. The chemical business concentrated here when some of the earliest settlersthe `Marwaris' used their contacts among chemical manufacturers in Gujarat and Maharashtra to bring in supplies.

Initially, the range was modest, some household cleansers, detergents and bleach. With time the region grew into a major centre for chemicals, catering even to industrial needs. Today, the two streets form an extended mall that most small-scale manufacturers needing chemicals come to, whether they need chemicals in small packs or by the barrel loads.

However, the congestion has its drawbacks, chief among them the hazard of stocking large amounts of chemicals in an area that has a mixture of shops and residences. The traders' association is making arrangements to shift to the outskirts, he said.

Mr J. Vimal Katariya of Lab Chemicals says the shops here continue to attract customers because buyers have the convenience of shopping for all their needs in one place. The shops cater to educational institutions, research and development organisations, and industries. Buyers come from all the southern States.

New storage complex coming up

The Tamil Nadu Dyes and Chemical Merchants Association is setting up a Rs 10-crore chemical storage complex at Paisampakkam village near Red Hills to the north of Chennai.

According to the association Secretary, Mr J. Padam Kumar Tatia, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has cleared the project and the Central Leather Research Institute has carried out the Environment Impact Assessment, he said.

The merchants have been allotted land to set up storage facilities. But they can continue trading at their existing shops. The association has sought support from the State Government in the form of better approach roads, power connection and quick clearance for licences.

The association has purchased over 540 grounds (2,400 sq ft a ground), laid roads and allocated over 420 plots.

Mr M. Ponnuswami, Vice-President of the association, said that the traders are mentally prepared to shift in line with the Chennai Corporation's proposal to allow shops to continue trading and shift the storage areas.