Tamil Nadu to woo countries mulling shifting of supply chain units to India

A Special Investment Promotion Task Force that has been set up for this, has been asked to submit a report within a month

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has constituted a Special Investment Promotion Task Force (SIPTF) to attract countries that are likely to look to shift to India for their supply chains in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The 14-member SIPTF, to be headed by the Chief Secretary, will submit its first report to the Chief Minister within one month.

“The economic upheavals and supply constraints caused by COVID-19 has prompted many countries to rethink their existing supply chains which are excessively dependent on some countries. Reports indicate that countries like the US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore are likely to diversify by establishing supply chains originating in India. Tamil Nadu, which is already a favoured investment destination, is well placed to attract these investments and needs to take proactive steps to attract them,” an Industries Department Government Order said.

The G.O. said the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Committee were to identify sectors, in which Tamil Nadu could attract investments due to relocation from other countries post COVID-19, and to formulate a special incentive package and facilitation, which needed to be provided to attract these investments.

Identifying key infrastructure projects, including dedicated industrial townships that needed to be undertaken or expedited to attract investments and identifying measures to fast track clearances to promote these investments and recommending outreach activities and brand building to position Tamil Nadu as an attractive investment destination were the other ToRs of the Committee.

Though Tamil Nadu was already a favoured investment destination, well placed to attract these investments, it needed to take pro-active steps to attract them, it added.

Secretaries of Finance, Industries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Departments, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Guidance Tamil Nadu, the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes are among the government authorities in the panel.

Two nominees from among Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korean Chamber of Commerce and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and two nominees from Indo American Chamber of Commerce, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and US-India Business Council (USIBC) are also part of the panel.

One nominee each from Enterprise Singapore, Japanese industrial parks, Japanese companies in Tamil Nadu, US companies in Tamil Nadu and Taiwanese companies in Tamil Nadu too are in the panel.