CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government managed to woo Rs 6.64 lakh crore worth committed investments in the third edition of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) by signing over 600 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with a potential of generating 26.90 lakh jobs.
The state's target was to bring in investments worth Rs 5.5 lakh crore during this year's GIM but it is learnt that several big-ticket investments happened in the last minute, highlighting investor confidence in the state's policies.
Speaking during the valedictory function in Chennai on Monday, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the proposed investments would generate 14.54 lakh jobs directly. "There is no doubt that the MoUs for these investments will help TN realise its goal of becoming a trillion-dollar economy very soon. Sectors that saw new investment include advanced electronics manufacturing, green energy, non-leather footwear, automobiles and e-vehicles, defence and aerospace, data centres, global capability centres, information technology and digital services," the CM said.
While the Industries Investment Promotion and Commerce Department attracted Rs 3.79 lakh crore worth investments, the Energy Department inked pacts worth Rs 1.35 lakh crore, the Housing and Urban Development Department Rs 62,939 crore, Information Technology and Digital Services Department Rs 22,130 crore and MSME Department deals worth Rs 63,573 crore. In all, the state has signed MoUs worth twice as much as inked during the previous GIM in 2019 (Rs 3.004 lakh crore). However, the bigger challenge will be to realise these investments. Industries Minister TRB Rajaa has set a target to realise more than 75% of the MoUs signed.
During the valedictory function alone, 34 MoUs were announced. These include three major investments in the non-leather footwear sectors from TKG Taekwang, Hong Fu Industrial Group and Long Yin Investment (Dean Shoes) worth Rs 3,250 crore. While, Hong Fu Industrial Group has decided to set up a plant in Ranipet, the other two companies are yet to decide on a location. The investment from the three companies will generate 41,000 jobs.
The other major investments include Rs 70,000 crore by Tata Power Renewable Energy, which was announced on Sunday and signed on Monday. Similarly, Singapore-based Sembcorp has proposed setting up a green hydrogen plant in Thoothukudi by signing an MoU worth Rs 36,238 crore, generating 1,511 jobs. Coimbatore-based Leap Green Energy, which is setting up an integrated green hydrogen and power storage plant in Thoothukudi and Tiruvanamalai districts is investing Rs 22,842 crore, generating 3,925 jobs.
Similarly, the Adani Group is investing in renewable energy, a data centre and city gas distribution, at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore. The data centre will be set up by AdaniConneX at a cost of Rs 13,200 crore and will generate 1,000 jobs, while Adani Green Energy Limited signed an MoU on renewables in Tiruvanamalai at a cost of Rs 24,500 crore generating 4,000 jobs.
Notably, the information technology department headed by Palanivel Thiagarajan has been able to bring in Rs 22,130 crore in investments, promising 1.07 lakh jobs.
Stalin also released the Public-Private Partnership Policy aimed at attracting investments by integrating the best practices of the government and the private sector. He explained that it would be difficult for the government to mount mega infrastructure projects on its own, and joining hands with the private sector would make such undertakings much more practical and viable.
Moreover, the CM also announced the launch of a portal to integrate international venture capital funds with TANFUND created by Startup TN. "Our Startup TN on Monday entered into an MoU with globally renowned companies such as Startup Genome. During the investors conference more than 200 startup entrepreneurs and venture capitalists got an opportunity to interact with experts from across the sector. In the buyer-seller meet, exporters from more than 20 countries interacted with more than 500 MSMEs," Stalin said.