The row over the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi has not cast a shadow over the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), to be held in Chennai next month, according to K. Gnanadesikan, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries Department.
Asked whether any prospective investor had raised the issue during the road shows held by the State government over the last few months in different parts of the world, he replied in the negative. No one had raised the matter, he said, adding that people were looking forward to the GIM.
Another official tasked with handling the event was of the view that industrial investors were quite conscious of the possibility of ‘aberrations’ like the Sterlite row. “At the same time, they also take into account the level of development of infrastructure — physical and social — in each State, and on this count, Tamil Nadu fares far better than many others,” the official contended.
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Noting that GIM 2019 would be more broad-based than the previous edition, Mr. Gnanadesikan said that apart from engineering and manufacturing, sectors such as information technology, ITeS [information technology-enabled services] tourism and energy would be represented in the summit. In addition to attracting foreign or international investors, steps had been taken by his department, along with the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department, to woo domestic and local investors as well, he said.
“Besides, DICs [District Industries Centres] in all districts held their own events to disseminate information on the meet. This is why we are confident of holding a successful GIM,” he said.
He, however, refused to give a figure on the Memoranda of Understanding to be signed this time.
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Industrial climate
On the industrial climate in the State, a senior official monitoring the workings of Tangedco said that the situation could be gauged from the fact that during the period from April to September this year, the sale of energy went up by 11% in the case of high-tension industrial units and 8% each for low-tension industrial and commercial establishments, compared to the corresponding period last year.
As for the status of MoUs signed in 2015, Mr. Gnanadesikan referred to a recent statement of Industries Minister M.C. Sampath, wherein the government claimed that projects envisaged in about 68 out of a total of 98 MoUs were in different stages of execution.
When asked how many approvals had been issued since the enactment of a law on business facilitation about a year ago, envisaging single window clearance mechanisms for large enterprises and MSMEs, the official said that 26 approvals had been given, envisaging a cumulative investment of about ₹7,700 crore and employment to 20,200 persons.
In the case of MSMEs, the website of the department concerned stated that out of 288 applications received, 200 had been cleared, with a proposed cumulative investment of around ₹634 crore and employment to 14,500 persons.