Southern States Cooperation Organisation
A proposal to establish SSCO — a small, permanent institution through which Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry can coordinate on infrastructure, investment, manufacturing, technology, skills, resilience, health and tourism — with full respect for the Constitution and the autonomy of every state.
Proposed text for adoption at the First SSCO Leaders' Summit.
SSCO shall not become merely a forum for meetings. Every Leaders' Summit reviews commitments, projects, expenditure, milestones, KPIs and unresolved issues. The Presidency publishes an annual SSCO Leaders' Declaration & Implementation Report.
SSCO shall not replace Parliament, State Legislatures, the Inter-State Council, Zonal Councils, courts, statutory authorities, Union ministries, or state departments. It cooperates with them wherever appropriate.
Connecting industrial centres, cities, ports and markets.
Making Southern India easier for investors to navigate.
Building cross-state supply chains.
Connecting research, startups and industry.
Improving skills recognition and workforce mobility.
Cooperation on disasters, water and climate.
Strengthening medical and research cooperation.
An integrated international tourism destination.
Each programme has an assigned Secretariat department and a public scorecard, reviewed at every Leaders' Summit.
The visual identity is designed to be extremely distinctive and deliberately free of any resemblance to a political party symbol: no weapons, crowns, animals or religious symbols.
A clean navy field with six interconnected elements — one per founding member — centred on a six-point interconnected geometric symbol representing cooperation, connectivity and equality.
More formal than the flag — for the Charter, agreements, summit declarations, official certificates and Secretariat correspondence.
The first Presidency is proposed to be settled by draw or consensus among founding members, rather than given by default to whichever state hosts the Secretariat.
| Year | Presidency |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Karnataka |
| 2028 | Tamil Nadu |
| 2029 | Telangana |
| 2030 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 2031 | Kerala |
| 2032 | Puducherry — then repeats |
Modelled loosely on the G20's Sherpa system — SSCO stays deliberately small: roughly 120–150 permanent staff, supported by deputed state officials and experts, not a new layer of government.
Previous, current and incoming Chairs provide continuity. The previous Chair explains what was promised; the current Chair delivers; the incoming Chair plans what's next.
Each member appoints one senior official — typically an Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary — to prepare political decisions before each Leaders' Summit.
The administrative backbone: implementation, interdepartmental coordination, project approval, removing bottlenecks, reviewing KPIs, preparing the Summit agenda.
Each Member Government establishes its own SSCO State Coordination Unit (5–15 officers) to connect the state government into the project pipeline.
Because defence and foreign policy are Union subjects, SSCO adapts the G20 model rather than copying it — no Foreign or Defence Ministers' Council. Instead: External Cooperation & Investment, and Home & Disaster Management.
Investment, taxation coordination where constitutionally permissible, infrastructure finance, economic data, trade, fiscal cooperation.
Industrial corridors, supply chains, MSMEs, electronics, semiconductors, EVs, aerospace.
Roads, railways, ports, airports, logistics, multimodal transport.
AI, semiconductors, research, startups, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, robotics.
Healthcare, medical research, disease surveillance, telemedicine, medical education, pharmaceuticals.
Higher education, vocational training, Skills Passport, workforce development, university cooperation.
Water data, drought, floods, climate adaptation, renewable energy, environmental monitoring.
Agricultural technology, food processing, irrigation efficiency, agricultural markets, rural development.
Tourism circuits, international marketing, heritage, cultural cooperation, film, events.
Disaster response, emergency coordination, civil defence, resilience — within constitutional limits.
Investment, trade & exports, economic research, MSMEs, industrial policy. Runs Invest South.
Transport, logistics, ports, industrial corridors, urban connectivity. Runs the Economic & Logistics Network.
AI, semiconductors, research, startups, digital economy. Runs the Innovation & Manufacturing Network.
Water, climate, disaster management, environmental data. Runs the Water & Climate Observatory.
Health, education, skills, tourism & culture. Runs the Skills Passport and Southern Health Network.
HR, procurement, accounting, legal, IT, communications, protocol, cybersecurity.
Three categories keep SSCO professional yet government-connected: permanent Secretariat staff recruited directly; officials on government deputation for 2–3 years; and independent experts — economists, engineers, lawyers, technologists — engaged for specific programmes.
Roughly 50,000–70,000 sq ft in Year 1: Secretary-General's office, ministerial meeting rooms, project rooms, a data centre, media room, research library, secure meeting rooms and visitor facilities.
No proposal reaches the Leaders' Summit directly. Every idea is routed, assessed and agreed through ten defined stages: Karnataka EV Department → Karnataka SSCO Cell → SSCO Secretariat → Technical Council → Chief Secretaries → Ministers → Sherpa Group → Leaders' Summit.
Any Member Government proposes an idea.
Feasibility, beneficiaries, participating states, cost.
Investment required, jobs, trade impact, cost–benefit.
Relevant Governments decide whether they are interested.
The relevant Ministerial Council considers the proposal.
Administrative feasibility review.
Political endorsement.
Participating Governments sign a specific agreement.
Government departments and agencies execute the project.
SSCO tracks milestones, KPIs and results — published for the public.
If Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana wish to participate, SSCO could structure the corridor in phases. Each state retains control of its own roads, electricity regulation, local approvals and implementing agencies — SSCO coordinates only the interstate layer.
| KPI | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corridors | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Charging hubs | 50 | 200 | 500 |
| Interoperable operators | 5 | 15 | 30 |
| Average charging gap | 80 km | 60 km | 40 km |
The Secretariat stays inexpensive. Its Project Preparation Fund is designed to unlock investment many times its own size, financed by the six governments and, later, a voluntary Development Fund.
| Member | Equal component | Economic component | Illustrative total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnataka | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹15 cr | ~₹27.5 cr |
| Tamil Nadu | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹18 cr | ~₹30.5 cr |
| Telangana | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹11 cr | ~₹23.5 cr |
| Andhra Pradesh | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹10 cr | ~₹22.5 cr |
| Kerala | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹9 cr | ~₹21.5 cr |
| Puducherry | ₹12.5 cr | ~₹2 cr | ~₹14.5 cr |
Illustrative only — final figures require official GSDP data at the time of adoption. A Minimum Contribution Cap and a separately negotiated arrangement for Puducherry as a Union Territory are proposed alongside this formula.
A separate, voluntary fund outside the ₹150 crore operating budget, open to member contributions, Union Government support, development finance, CSR where legally appropriate, multilateral financing and private-sector participation.
Companies, MSMEs, startups, investors and chambers of commerce get a structured advisory channel — explicitly advisory, never policymaking.
Annual competitive research funding on a rotating theme: 2028 water resilience, 2029 AI for manufacturing, 2030 climate-resilient cities, 2031 advanced healthcare.
Early-stage funding for genuinely cross-state projects — filling cooperation gaps that existing VC markets and single-state schemes don't reach.
A Chief Financial Officer, Internal Audit Unit and independent External Auditor, with published annual financial statements and competitive procurement.
Every Summit produces three things without exception: a Declaration of what was agreed, Commitments on who will do what, and a Scorecard on what was actually accomplished — the element that separates SSCO from a ceremonial summit.
19 pages: complete Founding Declaration, institutional detail, budget tables and legal safeguards.
This is offered as a starting framework, not a final proposal.
We invite officials from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry to review this framework, commission an independent legal assessment, and agree the basis for an inaugural Presidency and Summit.
SSCO is a proposal about the region you live in. The full founding whitepaper sets out the institution, its budget, and the safeguards that keep it accountable to elected governments.