Coimbatore : The Kongu Global Forum, (KGF), an association of representatives from the business community of seven districts of western Tamil Nadu, has requested the Centre to initiate necessary steps to extend the proposed Mumbai-Bengaluru Economic Corridor to Coimbatore for the benefit of all small, medium and large Industries in the region.

The request is based on information of the Union Commerce Ministry on the proposed corridor known as BMEC, a KGF memorandum submitted to Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu said.

A delegation led by KGF chairman A Shaktivel and convenor Vanitha Mohan had met both Naidu and Prabhu and sought better air connectivity, facilitating International travelers to reach the industrial town of Coimbatore and the Kongu region faster, a statement said today.

Though the region contributed significantly to the Government treasury by being a major business hub, business travelers were put to severe hardships due to lack of air connectivity.International travelers have to either drive to Kochi or Trichy or fly to Chennai or Bengaluru wasting time and resources to fly to international destinations, it said.

KGF representations to Air India for introduction of an early morning and evening flights to New Delhi to connect with international carriers in New Delhi had not been taken up for consideration.

The region also generated a sizable amount of cargo for export which was sent either through Bengaluru or Kochi airports. Perishable commodities like vegetables from the region also formed a part of the cargo. Bengaluru airport cargo complex had even set up a cargo collection centre in Tirupur, it said.

A long-felt need of the region was a flight connection to Dubai or Abu Dhabi,considering the huge population which flew to and fro from there.

All the Southern States had one or more hub and spoke stations for international passengers. But Tamil Nadu, in spite of having four buoyant international airports, has only one such station In Chennai.

KGF requested the government to upgrade Coimbatore international airport as such a station at the earliest to help international travellers of the seven districts, the memorandum said.