Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Global Investors Meet in Chennai
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa made a strong pitch for investment this morning at a meet for global investors in Chennai where she claimed deals worth Rs one lakh crore. She also announced that the state had set an investment target of 250 billion USD in the infrastructure sector in the coming years.
Here are the latest developments:
"Investment in Tamil Nadu is a sound investment," Ms Jayalalithaa said at the 'Global Investors Meet', highlighting the industry-friendly policies of the government.
The government's focus is on drawing investment for projects that will generate jobs in the state. Around 5,000 foreign and Indian delegates have signed up, including companies from Japan, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Korea, Singapore and France.
Big names from India Inc like HCL's Shiv Nadar, Gautam Adani of Adani Group, Anand Mahindra from Mahindra and Mahindra and Ford India chief Nigel Harris attended the meet. Mr Nadar, Chairman of HCL, announced that the company will invest one billion USD (over Rs 6,000 crore) in Madurai and Tirunelveli in the next five years.
At today's meet, Ms Jayalalithaa also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with spearheading investor-friendly initiatives, saying it will "enthuse" businesses planning to invest in states.
Senior officials said they expect key investment in sectors like manufacturing, energy, handloom, Information Technology, agriculture, animal husbandry and automobiles, besides micro and macro enterprises.
The state government is wooing investors with the promise of single-window clearance and 30-day approval for projects, ready land and good connectivity. The government is also backing its pitch for investment with the promise of uninterrupted power supply and skilled manpower resources.
Over the last four years, a severe power shortage had crippled small industry in the state. The government says the situation has now improved dramatically and it expects to have permanent surplus power by the year end.
The state spends Rs 13,000 crore on subsidy for food, power and transport and Rs 4,600 crore on freebies like mixer-grinders, laptops and stationery in schemes named after the chief minister. This year's budget projects a revenue deficit of Rs 4,616 crore and fiscal deficit of Rs 32,000 crore.
The opposition has called the meet a farce, pointing out that the AIADMK government is holding it only at the very end of its five-year term. "Many industrialists and groups are being threatened to sign deals giving exaggerated investment commitments," alleged the DMK's MK Stalin.
Tamil Nadu will vote for a new assembly in 2016 and Ms Jayalalithaa will make a bid to return as chief minister of a state that has, for the last 30 years, chosen a different party every time, alternating between the AIADMK and DMK.
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