The Tamil Nadu Government is all set to introduce new policy reforms that include a new industrial policy, automobile and auto parts policy, aerospace industry policy and biotechnology policy. “All these policies will have a number of innovative features that will make the state a leader in these areas,” said J. Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. For instance, she said, in the automobile and auto parts policy, which is likely to be released shortly, “I have set a goal to make Chennai the world’s largest auto hub”.

She addressed a huge gathering of industrialists, government officials and media representatives today in Chennai on the occasion of signing of MoUs for a total investment of Rs 21,000 crore. She said her government is committed to catapulting Tamil Nadu onto a higher growth orbit and developing the state to be on par with countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea. The government is confident of attracting over Rs 1 lakh crore of new investments in the manufacturing sector, she said.

Notwithstanding negative forecasts by various global research agencies on growth of the Indian economy, she said Tamil Nadu is targeting 11 per cent growth. Pointing out that conventional wisdom will say that given the current global recessionary trends this target is very ambitious, she said that “great minds will rise above them”. “The only obstacle in the way of our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. I believe in moving forward with strong faith and conviction,” she said.

Investment in the pipeline in Tamil Nadu stands at Rs 9,25,285 crore in September 2012, as against Rs 7,50,579 crore at the end of March 2011. This implies that the State has attracted an incremental investment of Rs 1,74,706 crore during the last 18 months, a quantum jump in investment flows into Tamil Nadu.

Talking about her Vision 2023, she said attracting investment is dependent on providing the right environment to run a business efficiently. Administrative and procedural issues which result from regulatory and institutional arrangements play an important role in attracting investments. The achievement of Vision 2023 is predicated on devising appropriate strategies to implement various projects and programmes – in terms of economic and human development indicators.

‘FDI a double-edged sword’

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said FDI is often a double-edged sword, and the government needs to handle it dexterously.

“While attracting investments, particularly FDI, my government firmly believes in being very responsive to its implications,” she said. According to her, FDI in some fields is purely based on private rationality with the underlying principle ‘private gain at social loss’. The recent decision of the central government to open up our retail business to FDI is one such example, “fraught with the danger of destroying our small business ventures that provide jobs to millions of our people”. She has already opposed this and declared that her government will not permit such FDI in retail in the State.

>ravikumar.ramanujam@thehindu.co.in

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