Tamil Nadu continues to work hard on improving the investment climate and is reworking aspects of industrial policy, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam said on Sunday.
Speaking at the United Economic Forum (UEF) Trade Summit, he said, “I once again commend the efforts of the UEF Trade Summit 2017 in increasing the investments in Tamil Nadu and congratulate [the investors for] the investment commitments of ₹71,750 crore by 2030 and the MoUs to the tune of ₹2,600 crore, which have been signed today.”
The MoUs include investments worth ₹1,600 crore by JF&Sss (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. in the glass sector and ₹650 crore in IT software and hardware, BPO and training centres by Unipro Software Pte. Ltd. Bari Capital and Developers Pvt. Ltd. has proposed to set up an Ayurvedic Centre, Senior Citizen Living and Sports Academy at an outlay of ₹101 crore, while KAS Industries Pvt. Ltd. has proposed to invest ₹50 crore for setting up a textiles and fabrics manufacturing unit.
Nizam Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. and Halal Global Hub have proposed to invest ₹125 crore each for developing e-commerce platforms for health care and Halal products respectively.
“We have a strong record of performance, and there is even greater future potential that beckons us. We fully realise that as the world moves forward, we, in Tamil Nadu, need to move even faster to grow and develop.We have constantly updated our policy framework and redoubled our efforts,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
He pointed out that the government was reworking the New Industrial Policy, launched in 2014, to bring it into line with the latest developments, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, and also to bring out sector-specific policies for auto, auto components and biotechnology, adding that the draft policy for aerospace and defence manufacturing was in the advances stage of finalisation.
“The effort is to not only retain Tamil Nadu’s lead in the sectors where it is strong, but to also make a breakthrough in emerging and sunrise sectors,” he said.
Noting that the State was now power surplus, he said there were various conventional and renewable power projects in the pipeline, adding that long-term power supply agreements had been entered into, so as to ensure that the State does not face power scarcity in the future.
Claiming that large investment decisions had been announced over the past few months, he said a single window clearance portal had also been launched.
The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund (TNIF), in conjunction with various government agencies, has identified projects in the areas of industrial water, industrial parks, mega green energy and allied projects, e.t.c. “The first round of funding has been raised from local investors, and the first few investments will be made within the next quarter. The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Company now plans to attract international investment, with a robust investment management model,,” Mr. Panneerselvam added.
