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Tamil Nadu got ₹95,000 cr investment in 1 yr, says minister after guv’s criticism
Tamil Nadu industries minister Thangam Thenarasu rejected governor R N Ravi’s criticism that the state has not been attracting investments like in Maharashtra and Karnataka
Tamil Nadu has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with 132 companies bringing an investment of close to ₹95,000 crore and generating jobs for more than 2 lakh people since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) formed the government last May, said industries minister Thangam Thenarasu on Friday.
He also said that the state’s ranking in ease of doing business (released by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman) has jumped to three from 14.
Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, the minister rejected governor R N Ravi’s criticism on Thursday that Tamil Nadu was attracting investments like in Haryana but not like in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
“Hyundai has a huge manufacturing unit in Chennai but its headquarters is in New Delhi. The government counts the FDI (foreign direct investment) to the state where the company is headquartered. The truth is that the maximum physical investments have come to Tamil Nadu,” the minister added.
Singapore-based IGSS Ventures signed an MoU on Friday to build a semiconductor hi-tech park at an investment of ₹25,600 crore. “With this, the total investments garnered through MoUs since we assumed office in May 2021 is ₹94,975 crore. Over 2.26 lakh people will get jobs through these projects,” Thenarasu said.
The Tamil Nadu government will also host an investors’ conclave on July 4 during which 60 MoUs will be signed with companies. At the conclave, chief minister M K Stalin will lay the foundation stone for 21 projects and inaugurate 12 completed projects. “Even after the (Covid-19) second wave, our government attracted investments worth ₹16,000 crore when we held our first Investors’ Conclave in July 2021. That demonstrated the industry’s desire to come to Tamil Nadu which ensured that production was not affected during the second wave,” Thenarasu said.
Of the 132 MoUs signed, 29 companies have begun the process of identifying land to set up their units and as many as 25 are in the planning stages. Thenarasu added that the investments pledged by companies are spread across the state as part of the DMK government’s plans to take industries to every part of the state. Investments have also come from myriad sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and research and development (R&D).
The minister also dismissed speculation that the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi district has had an effect on investments. “All the investments that we are talking about came after Sterlite Copper was closed. We have even brought new investments to Thoothukudi,” he said.
