Economy of Chennai

Chennai, the capital city of the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest industrial and commercial center of South India, behind only to Bangalore. In 2017, Chennai had an estimated PPP GDP of US$78.6 billion. Recent estimates of the economy of Chennai is around US$128.3 billion PPP GDP.

Chennai has an economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, medical tourism, hardware manufacturing and financial services sectors. Other important industries include petrochemicals, textiles, apparels and soonly to become EV hub of the country. The Chennai Port and Ennore Port contribute greatly to its importance.

Chennai was recently rated as having the highest quality of life among Indian cities ahead of the other three metros and Bangalore, based on the "Location Ranking Survey" conducted by ECA International. Chennai has improved its global ranking to 138 in 2006–07 from 179 in 2002–03. It is now ranked at 26th position in Asia in terms of livability, up from 31st rank in 2002–03. According to a 2007 worldwide quality of life survey done by Mercer, Chennai received the second highest rating in India, with New Delhi scoring the highest, and came in at a relatively low 157th worldwide. The reason was attributed to poor health and sanitation, and the increasing air pollution. It has the distinction of being called as the Detroit of Asia, due to its large manufacturing industry.

As of 2012, the city has about 34,260 identified companies in its 15 zones. Of these, 5,196 companies has a paid-up capital of over ₹ 5 million, about 16,459 companies are in the paid up capital range of ₹ 100,000 to ₹ 200,000, and 2,304 companies have a paid-up capital of less than ₹ 100,000.