ISRO and IIT Madras can bring to life Sivakasi’s dying firecracker industry By Lt Gen P R Shankar (r)
see the print.in for the original article Defence ministry too wants to indegenise ammunition production, and Tamil Nadu govt can use this to turn Sivakasi into a propellant manufacturing hub. T he toxic chemicals whose manufacturing brought the environmental spotlight on Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi may just help transform the city’s fortunes after all — with some help from the IIT Madras, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Tamil Nadu government. Both the ISRO and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will need huge quantities of propellants and explosives soon — the ISRO for the launch of its satellites and the MoD as part of its efforts to indigenise ammunition production. And Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi, whose thriving firecracker economy is reeling under shut factories and lakhs of workers without jobs, has what one would call the “nature’s gift”. Sivakasi has a dry climate and low rainfall all year round, making it ideal for the manufacturing of explosives. This explains the o