Tamil Nadu signs MoUs worth Rs 15,218 crore with 17 companies

Tamil Nadu on Wednesday signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with 17 companies based out of countries like France, Taiwan, Japan and China for setting up their manufacturing facilities in the state bringing an investment of Rs 15,218 crore.  

The new investments, which have been promised even as the state battles the coronavirus pandemic with over 17,000 cases, promise to generate employment opportunities for over 47,000 people.

While 15 of the 17 new projects will come up in Chennai, and its neighbouring districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu, France-based IGL Transplantation Solutions will set up its unit in Tiruvannamalai district and Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited will establish an Onshore Wind Farm project in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts.

Some of the major projects include expansion of the manufacturing facility by Daimler Indian Commercial Vehicles at a cost of Rs 2,277 crore that would provide employment opportunities to 400 people and Finland-based Salcomp PLC for expansion of its facility to manufacture mobile components in Nokia Telecom SEZ, Sriperumbudur, 50 km from here.

The Finnish company will invest Rs 1,300 crore for the expansion that will result in the generation of jobs for 10,000 people, the government said adding that the company had signed an agreement with the state administration for investing Rs 500 crore during the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) only a year ago.

While two companies each from Germany, the US, Japan, France, and Taiwan have signed MoUs with the state on Wednesday, the remaining are from Finland, UK, China, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore.  

The investments have come at a time the Tamil Nadu government is working hard to woo companies that plan to move its facilities out of China and shift to India to come and invest in the state.

The government has already constituted a Special Task Force, headed by Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, to attract new investments from companies that are likely to exit from “certain countries” and relocate their manufacturing bases in countries like India to “diversify” their supply chain.

The 13-member Special Task Force includes top bureaucrats, nominees from trade organisations of some of the aforementioned countries and representatives of top companies from these countries who have already set shops in the state.

Tamil Nadu is one of the leading destinations for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the country, having attracted $29,848 million in FDI from April 2000 to March 2019. According to figures released by the government, Tamil Nadu had retained its position by attracting $2,613 million during 2018-19. It is also the third-largest exporter of goods in the country.