With agriculture as the prime occupation, agricultural practices have undergone radical improvement since independence. Tamil farmers conserve scarce rainwater in small and large irrigation reservoirs or tanks. Government canals, tube wells and ordinary wells also form part of the irrigation system. Several river valley projects in the state depend on the erratic northeast monsoon for water. Consequently, subsoil water sources are being tapped. Multiple cropping, the use of new and better strains of rice, cotton, sugar, and millet, and the use of chemical fertilizers have been widely adopted. By 1967, the state was self-sufficient in the production of food grains.

Tamil Nadu is one of the most industrialized among the Indian states with a per capita income of 6,205.

The railway-coach factory at Perambur is one of the largest in Asia; the heavy vehicles factory producing tanks, is at Avadi, near Chennai. There is an oil refinery at Chennai and a larger thermal power project at Neyveli, both public-sector ventures. The state ranks second only to Kerala in the production of fish. Tamil Nadu is rich in limestone, bauxite, gypsum, salt, lignite, magnetite, mica, quartz and iron ore. The Tamil film industry based at Chennai now rivals Bollywood for output and provides considerable employment.

Tamil Nadu is rich in handicrafts; notable among them are handloom silk, metal icons, leather work, kalamkari (hand-painted fabric, using natural dyes), brass, bronze, copper wares, carved wood, palm leaf and cane articles. The state is an important exporter of tanned skin, hides, leather goods, cotton goods and yarn, tea, coffee, spices, engineering goods, tobacco, handicrafts and black granite.

Compiled by Puneet Sachdeva