Also known as Kovai or Covai, Coimbatore is the administrative capital of the eponymous district in the southern seaboard state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Noyyal river in the foothills of the Western Ghats, Coimbatore (pop. 2.9 million) is the second most populous city and the third largest (642 sq.km.) in the state. 

A major hub for education, healthcare and manufacturing, Coimbatore hosts more than 25,000 small, medium and large industries with the primary industries being textiles and engineering. Its flourishing textile industry sustained by the cotton fields in its vicinity has won Coimbatore the sobriquet “Manchester of South India”. It is also a major exporter of wet grinders, jewellery, auto components and poultry. 

The city is ranked fourth countrywide in investment climate by the Confederation of Indian Industry and 17th among the top global outsourcing cities by Tholons. One of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under prime minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission, it was ranked the seventh best city in India in the Ease of Living index 2020.