Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday inaugurated 19 projects with an investment of ₹17,616 crore and laid the foundation stone for 28 projects with an investment of ₹51,157 crore, with cumulative potential to create 1,06,803 jobs. The investment is across various industries, including textiles, food processing, and pharma.
An MoU was exchanged between Mahesh Kohli of Greenko and V Vishnu, MD and CEO of the State’s investment promotion agency Guidance Tamil Nadu, at the Investment Conclave 2024 on Wednesday. Greenko will invest ₹20,120 crore and employ 1,500 people to set up integrated close-loop pump storage systems in three districts.
Chief Minister Stalin said that in the last three years nearly ₹9.74 lakh crore has been invested to provide direct and indirect employment to about 31 lakh persons. He urged investors to bring in more investors to Tamil Nadu. “You should be the business ambassadors of the State,” he said.
Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said these projects are crucial to the Chief Minister’s dream of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The foundation stone was laid for SembCorp’s green hydrogen project at Thoothukudi. Tamil Nadu will be the first State in India to roll out commercial production of hydrogen molecules.
On the planned expansion of Coimbatore airport, the minister said the industries department had recently completed the land acquisition for it. Tidco and Tata Technologies have come together to set up a public engineering facility known as Tamil Nadu Engineering and Innovation Centre (TN Engine), for which the foundation stone was laid. This is coming up at the Anna University campus at a cost of ₹400 crore.
‘Transparency, predictability’
B Santhanam, CEO (Asia-Pacific) of Saint Gobain, recalled that 24 years ago the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had inaugurated the company’s first factory at an investment of ₹525 crore. The company has since invested 10X that amount. Eleven months ago, the company signed an MoU for ₹3,400 crore worth of projects, of which projects worth ₹800 crore are at an advanced stage of completion, he said.
Today, the foundation stone was laid for a new site at Oragadam, entailing ₹2,500 crore additional investment and with potential for another ₹2,500 crore investment.
Santhanam said over 60 per cent of the group’s investment in India is in Tamil Nadu. The performance of the business in the State is the best globally. Whether it is the people, productivity, transparent processes, or a partnership mindset... all are ‘beautifully’ aligned in the State, he said. “Stay invested in Tamil Nadu,” he told those who were investing in Tamil Nadu for the first time.
“If you want sustainable manufacturing in any part of the world, you have to come to Tamil Nadu. Power is already 50 per cent green. By 2026, the company will have 75 per cent renewable energy, and this is possible for a power-intensive company like Saint Gobain in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
He added that Tamil Nadu is an intensively free market and a competitive State. The processes are transparent and predictable. “You know what you will get and when you will get it. We have investments in several Asean countries. I don’t see this kind of predictable processes that we see in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
“When you invest in Tamil Nadu, you become a partner in the State,” he said. ”The site that we wanted was an SEZ [special economic zone] site. The State government, through Guidance and Sipcot, converted that SEZ into a regular investment zone and handed over the site in record time. Today, we are beginning that investment,” he said.
Pioneering hydrogen venture
Vipul Thuli, CEO (South Asia), Hydrogen Business, SembCorp Industries Ltd, said the State has been a pioneer in wind energy. With the new investment in hydrogen, it is set to be a pioneer in this area as well.
The company is setting up a green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in Thoothukudi with the involvement of Tamil Nadu, Singapore and Japan. The partners in the project include Kyushu Electric Power Co; Sojitz of Japan; and NYK Shipping Line of Japan. The company has secured land at Tuticorin port and the offtake agreement was signed on Tuesday in Delhi, he said.
Projects inaugurated
- Motherson Electronic Components (₹2,600 crore investment; 2,800 jobs) in Kancheepuram district
- L&T Innovation Campus (IT Park in Chennai); ₹3,500 crore investment, with seating for 40,000 persons
- TVS Indeon (Lucas TVS) in Tiruvallur district; ₹2,850 crore investment; 800 job
- Jurojin Developers (House of Hiranandani) in Kancheepuram district and new industrial park in Tiruvallur district; ₹2,000 crore investment; 1,500 jobs
- Sundaram Fasteners, Chengalpattu; ₹1,411 crore investment; 1,577 jobs
- ESJAY Pharma, Kancheepuram; ₹1,000 crore investment; 1,500 jobs
Foundation stone laid
- SembCorp, Thoothukudi — ₹36,238 crore investment; 1,511 jobs
- Saint Gobain, Kancheepuram — ₹3,400 crore investment; 1,140 jobs
- Pragati Warehousing, Tiruvallur — ₹1,500 crore investment; 2,500 jobs
- Capgemini, Chengalpattu — ₹1,000 crore investment; 5,000-seater facility