Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Friday said Tamil Nadu would host an investor conclave in Chennai on July 4 and a slew of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) would be signed in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Speaking to reporters, he said 60 MOUs were expected to be signed with a job potential of 20,000 and the expected investment could be ₹20,000 crore or more. The Chief Minister would lay the foundation stone for 21 projects and inaugurate 12 projects, Mr. Thennarasu said.
In a response to Governor R.N. Ravi’s remark that Tamil Nadu had been attracting lesser investments than States like Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Minister said that in the last one year, the DMK government had signed 132 MoUs, amounting to ₹94,975 crore, with a job potential of 2.25 lakh. The State has attracted investments despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and it reflects the confidence that investors have in the State, he said, pointing out that the State's ease of doing business ranking has improved.
Mr. Thennarasu pointed out that the issue in measuring FDI inflows was that it would be recorded in the State where the company was headquartered. So even if investments are made in Tamil Nadu, credit goes to other States. For instance, Hyundai has a manufacturing plant near Chennai but has its head office in New Delhi. Similarly, Ola’s manufacturing unit is in Krishnagiri but it is headquartered in Bengaluru, he said.
On Ford’s Chennai plant, he said the company had earlier indicated that they would consider manufacturing electric vehicles but later said they would not. “They are accommodating some workers in their R&D arm and negotiations are on before the Labour Commissioner on severance packages. We expect a smooth resolution,” he said.
