Salem is a city with not much of an history. It doesnt play any role in the famous kingdoms of Tamil past. It has come up in relatively recent times but is one of the faster growing cities of the state. Within Tamilnadu, Salem district is relatively better endowed with mineral deposits, magnesite, a little of bauxite and iron. Handloom and weaving are the main economic activity in the region. The SAIL Steel plant is another important industry here but the expectation and long time wish of the people of this region for it to be converted to an integrated steel plant has not materialised so far. It is the location of a few refractories due to magnesite availability and some sago production. The famous Salem Mangoes are actually more of Dharmapuri (nearby district) mangoes after the various bifurcation of districts. Nearby town of Mettur has quite a few factories (Chemplast, Malco, SISCOL, Thermal and Hydel Power plants etc) as a compensation. Narasu’s coffee company, a well known brand of filter cofee powder maker is based in Salem and so is the famous KPN Travels a well managed private bus service operator. The now defunct Modern theaters studio was also based in Salem. I understand a few small BPO companies have setup shop in Salem but it is too small at present to be of significance. An Elcot promoted IT park / SEZ is threatening to come up anytime soon. Commercially, Salem is an important regional centre. It is also the district headquarters of Salem district and the largest urban center between Bangalore and Coimbatore. Its location at the crossroads of major highway networks, NH 7 (Bangalore and beyond - Kanyakumari), NH 68 to Chennai via Ulundurpettai and NH 47 to Trivandrum via Coimbatore has helped in making it a major trading and marketing centre. It is also in the main railway line linking Chennai and north India with Kerala and thus is well connected with most of the country. Salem has recently become a Divisional headquarters for Southern Railway overcoming major opposition from Kerala and this is expected to give a major fillip to railway projects in the region. Although there is an airstrip in Salem, unfortunately, its location very near to other major metros has left it lie unutilised so far.
The industrial and commercial activites in the region have made Salem more affluent than the bigger cities of Madurai and Trichy. It can be seen in the bright shopping complexes on the main NH road along the City bus station and the increasing traffic congestion in the city. The Salem bus stand was the largest (not the cleanest) in Tamilnadu until the CMBT came up in Chennai.
Until recently Salem was not amongst the major educational centres in TN. Although it had reputed schools, arts/science colleges and even an engineering college it’s lack of of a medical college and university was a major drawback. The opening of Mohan Kumaramangalam medical college and the private Vinayaka mission colleges as well as Periyar university has given a fillip to the educational facilities in the region but it still is rated way behind other centres of Tamilnadu in this regard.
Tourism in Salem is non-existent. The main link to tourism is through the hill station of Yercaud 35 kms away. Tiruchengode and Namakkal temples, Mettur Dam and Kolli Hills are other locally important tourist spots. There is very little tourism potential in Salem itself apart from promoting it as a transport and facilities hub for hill based tourist and adventure activities.
The biggest advantage and drawback for Salem in growing further is its nearness to Bangalore and to a lesser extent Coimbatore. Much of the people of this region have hitched their economic future with these two cities and the possibilites of Salem becoming anything more than a big regional urban centre within Tamilnadu looks remote.
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