Coimbatore, also known as Kovai, is the second largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Coimbatore District. Known as Manchester of southern India, it is also a part of the Kongu Nadu region of Tamil Nadu. Including its sub-urban areas the population is around 20 Lakhs. More >>

Information about the origins of Coimbatore is scarce. But this city was the trading zone for the early visiting Romans. Vellalore near Coimbatore was then a trading hub. By the early 14th century, the region was ruled by the Muslim rulers of Madurai under the Delhi Sultanate. The Muslim rule in Madurai was ended in the late 14th century by the newly formed Vijayanagara Empire. The Vijayanagara reign brought new settlers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In the 1550s, the military governors (Telugu-speaking Nayaks) of the Vijaynagara Empire took control of Madurai, with Coimbatore belonging to their territory. After the downfall of Vijayanagara Empire, the Madurai Nayaks established their state as an independent kingdom, with other Vijayanagar offshoots forming new kingdoms in Vellore, Tanjore, Gingee, Chandragiri and Mysore. The Nayaks introduced the Palayakkarars, who were military governors of their respective regions. By the 1700s, frequent fighting between Madurai and Mysore forces in the Coimbatore region resulted in the region being ruled by Mysore. At this time Coimbatore was still a village of around 3000 people.

In the 1760s, the Mysore throne was usurped in a coup by General Hyder Ali. Ali was hostile to the British, who were gaining a foothold in the area with the help of Arcot Nawab. A series of wars between the British and the Mysore forces continued till Tipu Sultan's death in 1799, when the Mysore throne was handed over to the earlier Mysore rulers. At that time the British annexed the Coimbatore region into the Madras Presidency. When Hyder Ali acquired Coimbatore, the population was around 3000. The village dwindled to 1500 by Tipu's death.

In 1804 Coimbatore was established as a capital for the newly formed Coimbatore district and in 1848, it was accorded the municipality status. Sir Robert Stanes, a British entrepreneur and philanthropist, became the first Chairman of the Coimbatore City Council and also founded the Stanes School in 1862, a major higher secondary school that is still a prominent educational institute of the district.

When the British occupied Coimbatore, the territory connected the Malabar ports with the rest of India (apart from Konkan coast). The British later expanded their railway network in 1862, passing through Podanur to Cochin for quicker transit of raw materials required in England.

In 1888, Sir Robert Stanes founded the Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills (also known as Stanes Mills) in the northern edge of the town after starting a coffee curing factory in Trichy road thus kick starting the industrial journey of Coimbatore. The Stanes textile mill he started is the forerunner to the huge textile industry of world repute which Coimbatore has today. Sir Robert Stanes would later assist several others in setting up their ventures. By the 1930s, several textile mills had been established around Coimbatore due to the cheap power offered by the Pykara power station.

The city's primary industries are engineering and textiles. The district also houses the country's largest amount of hosiery and poultry industries. Most of the industries are run by entrepreneurs, often indigenous with family based or community financing. The city's industrial growth started in 1920’s and accelerated after independence, without any government assistance or the entry of external industrial houses. The city serves as the home ground for most of the well known industrialists from Tamil Nadu. Of late, information technology companies have started opening offshore development centers in the city.

The city has a multi-cultural society, mostly of cosmopolitan nature, whose inhabitants are largely conservative and traditional, yet retaining their roots in their native villages.

In 1965 another Textile family of VLB Naidu group set up Mopeds India Ltd after a technical collaboration with Motobecane of France to manufacture their legendary Motobecane Mobylette 50 cc moped under the name Suvega, but, only the central office was in Coimbatore while the plant was set up in Tirupathi.

The manufacture of Wet grinders, considered to be India’s only product and engineering invention, later spun-off into several variants. LMW and Pricol would commence operations later growing into a multi-crore group.

Coimbatore is the highest revenue earning district in Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore is called the Manchester of South India due to its extensive textile industry, fed by the surrounding cotton fields. It is also called as the pump city of India. The City houses large number of small scale engineering companies. The motor and pump industry supplies about two thirds of India’s requirements, while its wet-grinder industry has a near monopoly. Agriculture is still the major occupation in the district as in any other part of the Country. General trade attracts people from all over the state including the neighbouring Kerala.

Coimbatore is also emerging as an IT and BPO city. Coimbatore is ranked at 17th place among the global outsourcing cities.

The other major industries of this city are automotive components, jewellery exports, Wind Energy major Suzlon has planned to set up a foundry & machine shop in Coimbatore. Along with it Hansen Transmission, a Belgian Company which manufactures gearboxes for windmills is setting up a plant here with an investment of Rs 940 cr.

One of the fast growing Aventure Technologies is situated in this city. It provides efficient products in the industrial automation field. It also provides the textile automation and ERP for companies. Now they have started on the vehicle tracking system. This company is also involved in various fields and reached the goal successfully. It is the leading company for automation and software in this city.

Coimbatore’s Research and Development Organizations like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, South India Textile Research Association, contribute a lot to the city. Other Companies like PSG, Sakthi group are the other major employers in the city.

The IT industry in Coimbatore is still in developing stage as compared to its textile and manufacturing industries, with Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Perot Systems, Robert Bosch GmbH, 365Media, Cybernet Slashsupport (CSS Corp) and KGISL to name a few.

Educational institutions played a major role in the city's development. The year 1867 saw the first group of students appearing for the SSLC Examinations. The city today has more than a dozen engineering colleges, two medical colleges, an air-force administrative college, a forest college, more than 75 arts and science colleges and 3 universities, churning out about 35,000 graduates every year.

The city has numerous hospitals. Apart from the Government hospital, several multi-facility hospitals function in the city. The district's health department is amongst the best in terms of implementing government-initiated health schemes. Fast pace of industrialization, spiraling population and the increase in the health awareness have led to the growth of the healthcare industry in Coimbatore. Coimbatore stands second to Chennai in Tamilnadu for highly affordable and quality healthcare deliveries of international standards.

Coimbatore is also the preferred healthcare destination to the floating population from nearby towns and districts and also nearby districts of Kerala. The growth of the hospitals in the city can be attributed to the vision of the industrialists here to bridge the gap between growing health needs and the existing services. Many of the private hospitals in the city are promoted by industrialists as an extension of their business portfolios and their services to the society.

Coimbatore has a pleasant, salubrious climate, not reaching the high temperatures of other southern India cities. Situated in the Western part of the state of Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore is located at an elevation of about 398 meters. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures during summer and winter varies between 35°C to 18°C. The highest temperature ever recorded is 41 °C and lowest is 12 °C.