CHENNAI: A day after 16 firms inked deals to start businesses in Tamil Nadu, 19 US companies on Thursday signed Memoranda of Understanding, promising investment of Rs 2,300 crore, which would create jobs for 6,500 people. The MoUs were signed at an investors’ meet at San Jose where Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami showcased TN’s potential to investors and members of the Tamil diaspora.
Lincoln Electric, Wearable Mems, Caldon Biotech, ZL Technologies, Kapisoft, Kloud Learn, Sierra Health Alerts, Acts Global Tech Solutions, Ripe.io, Latent.ao, Achireum, Nature Mills, SAi, ACS Global Tech Solutions, Dotsolved Systems Inc, TIE Global, USISPF, Google X and DCF Ventures are firms that signed pacts.
The CM launched a facility called Digital Accelerator to extend assistance to all who wished to invest in TN. The facility will be executed with aid of American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association. Tamil investors from the US who use this will get financial aid for new ventures. The CM said Rs 50 crore had been allocated for this.
The San Jose meet was attended by over 250 investors. Representatives from Foxconn, Lincoln Electric and Zoho Corporation shared their experiences of working in Tamil Nadu and explained how the State government helped investors.
Addressing investors at San Francisco, the CM explained the special features of Yaadhum Oore Scheme. He said all approvals for investments would be given through a single-window system. “As far as the industrial sector is concerned, Tamil Nadu is in second place in India, next to Maharashtra. But with regard to small scale industries, TN is in the first place,” Palaniswami said, stating that there was no compulsion for investors to set up only big business ventures with investments ranging from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore.
The government would assist investors who wished to set up small scale industries too, he assured. “When we started visiting USA, we were aiming at making Tamil Nadu the numero uno State. But after interacting with you, I have gained confidence that we can make TN, a front-ranking State in the world. I request members of the Tamil diaspora to extend cooperation in this. Though you are here, I know your heart is in your motherland,” he said.