CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu hopes to attract Rs 15,000 crore worth investments at the second edition of two-day Global Investors Meet likely to be held from January 23, said Information Technology Minister Dr M Manikandan. Speaking at the valedictory session of Connect 2018 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and chaired by Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami, the minister said that at the first edition of the GIM held in 2015, his department was able to garner Rs 10,950 crore investments and generate jobs for 21,000 people.
The Information Technology department is also looking at having anchors globally who could help woo investors to the state, at Global Investors Meet. IT secretary Dr Santhosh Babu said that plans were on to tie up with organisations such as Tiecon and Nasscom, who have offices globally to woo investors in IT sector. “It is at a proposal stage. My minister has backed it. We will be putting forth the proposal before the government,” said Dr Santhosh Babu.
Earlier, during the event, Krishnakumar Natrajan, chairman of CII Connect 2018, urged the CM to create a separate Centre of Excellence for auto and entertainment, stating that the state has skill and capabilities in the two sectors and could emerge as leaders on the front.
Interestingly, this comes as Chennai is set to have a Centre of Excellence for Fintechg at Software Technology Park of India. Santosh Babu said that all clearances were in place. The only hitch is the recent Supreme Court judgement prohibiting the use of Aadhaar cards by private entities. “We are awaiting clarity over this issue,” said Santhosh Babu. The Chief Minister said that the state’s focus was on the development of IT and IT-enabled services.
It is learnt that the state is already preparing a start-up policy for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises department. Santhosh Babu said that the IT department was keenly awaiting the policy and if it didn’t include IT and IT-enabled services, then “we will draft a new policy and converge it with MSME policy.”
The Chief Minister also said that the first shipload of sand, which is being imported from Malaysia, has arrived at Ennore, and now sales are taking place. “We plan door-to-door sale of sand,” he added.