CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for Rs 1,891-crore room air conditioner and compressor plant of Mitsubishi Electric India in Tiruvallur district.
A 100% foreign direct investment project, the plant is the first of its kind where the MoU signing and the foundation-stone laying are held simultaneously. The major investment from the Japanese firm comes at a time when the Chief Minister is scheduled to visit Japan and Singapore on May 23 to invite companies to take part in Global Investors Meet which will be held in January next year.
Tamil Nadu has secured investments worth Rs 2.73 lakh crore by signing 224 MoUs with companies after the DMK government assumed office in May 2021. This is expected to generate 4,10,561 new jobs.
“Tamil Nadu is home to three out of the 12 Japan Industrial Townships (JITs), developed as part of the ‘Japan-India Investment promotion partnership’. The largest number of Japanese expatriates in India are in Tamil Nadu. As a step ahead to strengthen this relationship, I will be leading a delegation to Japan by the end of this month,” Stalin said. The Chief Minister said Mitsubishi Electric is investing Rs 1,891 crore, creating direct employment to 2,000 people at their proposed new plant in Peruvoyal village, Gummidipoondi taluk in Tiruvallur district.
The event was attended by Minister of Industries Thangam Thenarasu, additional chief secretary of industries department S Krishnan, Mitsubishi Electric executive officer and group president Yasumichi Tazunoki and Mitsubishi Electric India managing director Kazuhiko Tamura. The plant is being set up on 52 acre land owned by Origins by Mahindra in Peruvoyal.
The Chief Minister also said the project would open up opportunities for many ancillary industries to enter Tamil Nadu, thereby, reducing imports. This project proposes to employ more than 60% women in the factory, and has assured to provide necessary training, learning and development initiatives to its employees. “This will definitely strengthen the efforts taken by this government towards welfare of women in the state,” he said.
Highlighting the Tamil Nadu Research and Development Policy, which was released on July 2022, Stalin said more than 50 companies have set up a new technical centre, including research and development centres in the state, and some have expanded their existing centres here. “This has created employment opportunities to 1,22,000 people,” he added.
Speaking about the factory, Kazuhiko Tamura said the company will be using refrigerant that would minimise carbon dioxide emission. “This would adhere to the new building code put forth by the union and state governments,” he said.
Tamura said the commercial production at the facility is expected to begin in October 2025, and in the initial phase, by December 2025, the company will be able to manufacture 3 lakh air-conditioners and 6.5 lakh compressors. “The manufacturing unit will meet sustainable development goals through measures such as reusing waste water through underground filtration treatment and site greening,” he added.