CHENNAI: American renewable energy firm Ohmium will be investing Rs 400 crore in Tamil Nadu to establish its manufacturing unit in Chengalpattu district. The facility is expected to provide jobs to around 500 people. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed in San Francisco on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin, who is on a two-week visit to the US to attract investments.
Ohmium designs and manufactures green hydrogen production and scalable Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer systems. It has established global green hydrogen pipelines across the US, Mexico, Europe, and Asia. The Chengalpattu unit will manufacture electrolyzers and green hydrogen.
The chief minister, on his X handle, described the signing of the MoU as another successful day in San Francisco. “This marks a significant step in nurturing the ecosystem for green energy production and fuelling a sustainable future!” his post read.
According to an official release, during an investors’ conference in San Francisco on August 29, the state signed MoUs with six global companies —Nokia, PayPal, Yiled Engineering Systems, Microchip Technology, Infinx Healthcare, and Applied Materials — for an investment of Rs 900 crore, which will create 4,100 jobs in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai.
On August 30, the chief minister met with senior executives from Apple, Google, and Microsoft, inviting them to invest in Tamil Nadu and signed an MoU with Google for setting up Artificial Intelligence (AI) research labs in the state.
Over 300 US firms have set up projects in TN: Stalin
Addressin g the Tamil diaspora in San Francisco on Sunday, Stalin said, “According to Gallop, India and America are two important democracies Gallup, India ranks seventh on the list of countries Americans like. Similarly, Indians are the second-largest group of immigrants in America.
Last year, among those who gained American citizenship, Indians were the second-largest group, next to Mexicans who were 12.7%. Indian students are the second largest group among international students in the USA,” he said.
“This shows how attractive America is to Indians. Despite being small in numbers, Indians hold significant positions in higher education, business and esteemed sectors in America and many Tamilians hold high positions in American companies.”
“Indian-origin scientists are working at NASA. Bilateral trade has increased threefold since 2000. These are all signs of the friendship between our two nations,” Stalin pointed out.
Stalin said the friendship between India and America was not just between the governments but also between the people of the two countries.
“This is the unique aspect of the relationship between our nations. Tamil Nadu, in particular, holds significant appeal for America.Renowned American companies are operating in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu’s status as the second-largest economy in India contributes to this. Over 300 American companies have set up projects in the state. In the past three years, American companies have increasingly invested in Tamil Nadu.”
“I urge the Indian-Americans present here to encourage American companies to invest in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Industries Minister TRB Raaja, Industries Secretary V Arun Roy, Managing Director and CEO of the Guidance Tamil Nadu, V Vishnu, CEO of Ohmium, Arne Ballantine, Chief Technology Officer C Karuppiah,
Consul General of India in San Francisco K Srikar Reddy, Chairman of Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Board Karthikeya Sivasenapathy and senior government officials were among those present during the event.