CHENNAI: The TVK-led government’s Vetri Thamizhagam Vision pitches for a Rs 50,000-crore state investment fund to invest in emerging sectors, building a first-of-its-kind AI City, rolling out a “no-application” welfare delivery system and guaranteeing time-bound government services under a Right to Service Act, among others, over the next five years.
Furthermore, the vision document proposes a “People’s Choice Budget”, a participatory initiative where citizens directly decide how 10% of district-level development funds are utilised.
TNIE has exclusively accessed the Vetri Thamizhagam Vision, prepared by the state government’s Special Programme Implementation department, which was discussed in the new government’s first cabinet meeting with 436 proposals across 35 departments for the next five years.
The state has proposed to set up Tamil Nadu Strategic Investment Authority (TNSIA) with a `50,000-crore corpus, from which the government will directly invest in high-growth sectors such as semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), aerospace, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced manufacturing.
“Rather than merely facilitating private investments, the Tamil Nadu government will co-invest alongside industries, create new economic value, and share ownership in these ventures. This approach will generate lakhs of high-quality jobs while also creating new non-tax revenue streams for the state,” the vision document read.
The document has also proposed a pioneering fiscal reporting system called “First Five Special Budgets”. The social justice budget statement focuses on the advancement of Adi Dravidar, tribal, and marginalised communities. The balanced regional development budget statement addresses the 3:1 income disparity between developed and backward regions by targeting 12 underdeveloped districts.
The Tamil Nadu cultural and heritage budget statement is dedicated to protecting archaeological sites like Keeladi and promoting Tamil culture globally. The education and healthcare equity budget statement aims at reducing quality disparities between urban and rural facilities. Finally, the environmental budget statement prioritises marine conservation, flood management, and climate resilience.
Through the “Chief Minister’s People Service Friends”, the vision also proposed a “no-application” governance model, to make Tamil Nadu the first state in the country to deliver welfare scheme benefits to eligible citizens without requiring them to file an application at all.
“Using digital data integrated from Aadhaar, ration cards, family records, and service databases, eligible beneficiaries will be automatically identified through technology-driven systems,” the document read.
Through the “Chief Minister’s People Service Friends” initiative, welfare benefits will be delivered directly to beneficiaries on their doorstep, it added.
The document also commits to a full-scale AI push. This includes Arivagam, pitched as India’s first dedicated AI City, which would house an AI university, a high-performance GPU (graphics processing unit) compute cluster, semiconductor testing labs, and international skill centres.
Speaking to TNIE, a minister said that of the total 436 proposals, some are being implemented including the Vetri Tamil Nadu Super App. “Through the Super App, citizens can access 500 government services, including birth certificates, ration cards and driving licence renewals, from their mobile phones. This is already in the process and it would soon be implemented,” the minister said.
Among student welfare schemes, the government pushes to establish the Periyar Institute of Emerging Technologies to offer specialised courses in AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, climate technology, space technology, and cybersecurity.
For students willing to pursue higher education, the state government is pitching to sponsor higher education and living expenses for students admitted to the world’s top 100 universities, in return for a three-year service commitment in Tamil Nadu.
Similarly, in order to extend the work-from-hometown model, the government pitches for micro-technology parks and co-working hubs across the state.
Five-year vision
To set up Tamil Nadu Strategic Investment Authority with a corpus of `50,000 crore
No-application governance model – Deliver welfare scheme benefits to citizens without requiring them to file an application at all
People’s choice budget – Citizens directly decide how 10% of district-level devpt funds are utilised
