Stalin in Germany: Tamil Nadu gets investment pledges worth Rs 3,201 crores

Chennai: Knorr-Bremse, the Germany-headquartered global leader in braking systems, on Monday pledged Rs 2,000 crore to set up a railway doors and braking systems facility in Kanchipuram district, generating jobs for 3,500 people. The company will also set up a Technology Centre in Chennai.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Marc Llistosella, Chief Executive Officer, Knorr-Bremse, and officials of the Tamil Nadu government in the German city of Düsseldorf in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin during his 10-day visit to the UK and Germany.

Officials said this will be Knorr-Breeze’s first-ever major manufacturing investment in Tamil Nadu, which will further strengthen Tamil Nadu’s fast-growing railway components and advanced engineering ecosystem. The announcement comes close on the heels of the company setting up its first-ever global AI hub in Tamil Nadu.

The government also signed MoUs with Nordex Group and ebm-papst for expanding their operations in Tamil Nadu by investing Rs 1,201 crores, creating 2,750 jobs.

Nordex Group, one of the world’s top wind turbine manufacturers, will expand its operations in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs 1000 crore, creating 2,500 new jobs, a government statement said. This expansion reinforces Tamil Nadu’s leadership in renewable energy manufacturing and green industrialisation, the statement added.

ebm-papst, which specializes in energy-efficient electric motors and air movement solutions, will expand both its Global Capability Centre (GCC) and manufacturing base with a proposed investment of Rs 201 crore over five years.

Stalin also met with senior leaders from the BMW Group, which operates a massive manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Chennai. The BMW executives expressed strong interest in future expansion plans in Tamil Nadu, but refused to share further details.

“During the meeting, the Chief Minister highlighted Tamil Nadu’s dominance in the automotive and EV sectors and invited BMW to further deepen its India engagement through Tamil Nadu. BMW reaffirmed its commitment to the state, citing its established Indian footprint and Tamil Nadu’s strong EV infrastructure,” the statement added.

The efforts come amid a push by the state government to garner more investments in EV sector – Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacture VinFast launched its first India factory in Thoothukudi last month and Jaguar Land Rover-Tata Motors are likely to produce EVs from their under construction greenfield factory in Panapakkam in Ranipet district.