Town and seaport in Tamil Nadu state, southeast India; population (1991) 143,800. Situated 150 km/93 mi south of Chennai (formerly Madras) on the Coromandel Coast, its port has been developed to handle coal, fertilizers, ceramics and other freight from the nearby industrial complex of Neyveli. It was originally founded by the British as a trading settlement for the East India Company in the 17th century, and was the site of Fort St David, destroyed in 1758 during fighting between the British and French.