We have had a fascinating experience in coming out with this issue. Over the last three months, as Team IE visited several parts of Tamil Nadu meeting political leaders, champion administrators, business honchos and academia dons, we realised how rich, vibrant and diversified a state we are. A very silent revolution has been happening without pomp and pagentry, without hype and hoopla. That Tamil Nadu should be the first choice investment destination and that too by choice is a no-brainer. Here are many reasons:
Chief among these is the stability and proactive nature of the administration. Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his team in policymaking are proactive. We have come a long way in Ease of Doing Business, thanks to a series of policy measures announced in quick succession. The government has been forcefully talking about the myriad investments which large corporations have put out in the state either as green-field or as expansion.
COHESIVE, COORDINATED APPROACH…
In the aftermath of the demise of the charismatic party supremo J Jayalalithaa, it naturally took time for the new leadership to settle down. There was the added crisis first of the Vardah cyclone, and later from Gaja. The administration across the state attended to these with alacrity. Once this was done, they hit the ground running on the many development issues. The cohesive and coordinated approach of the council of ministers guided by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has helped in reaching out to prospective investors, including charting out to unchartered territory. Just look at the recent expansion into the ICT sectors, aerospace and Defence!
The Tamil Nadu civil administration is traditionally known for its efficiency and forward-looking programmes. Led by a self-effacing Chief Secretary, the Secretariat abounds in rich and varied talents. The GIM Secretariat led by Additional Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan and consisting of Special Secretary Arun Roy, Industrial Promotion & Guidance Bureau Vice Chairman Velmurugan, Executive Director K P Karthikeyan and heads of other departments like K Shanmugam, T V Somanathan and S Krishnan has been effectively planning and executing the conduct of GIM. But for them, this would have been a non-starter.
STRONG INFRASTRUCTURE
Returning to our visits across the state. We were mighty impressed by the strengths of infrastructure. The road, rail, seaport and airport connectivity, the highly urbanised nature of the state, the strong social support in the form of education and health are not seen in any comparable extent in other states. Our report on the 11 Smart Cities will highlight this beautiful spread. The state policy and the initiative of entrepreneurs also will help the development of southern Tamil Nadu.
A heartening feature of recent development relates to extensive opportunities for employment, especially for rural women. Two large Taiwanese companies, Foxconn and Feng Tay, provided gratifying examples. Feng Tay, set up in an exclusive economic zone at Cheyyar, produces footwear and other products for Niki for 100 per cent export to the US and Europe. The company employs 23,500 at Cheyyar and another 3500 at Bargur. And interesting fact relates to the company predominantly employing women, drawn from the surrounding rural areas, at decent wages. At Sriperumbudur we came across a similar experience: Foxconn has re-entered Tamil Nadu with a bang. It employs 15,000, again most of these young women from rural Tamil Nadu, assemble cell phones at the rate of 3 per second!
Another highlight is the quiet manner in which handsome repeat investments are made by several large companies like MRF, Saint Gobain, Hyundai, Ford Motors… These testify to the profitability and satisfaction levels of large corporations on the several positive features of investing in the state.
Tamil Nadu already has a well-diversified portfolio of investments. Apart from traditional industries of leather, textiles, cement, sugar… the state has excelled in increasingly sophisticated industrial activity in automobiles, auto components and a wide range of other engineering industries. A unique dedicated industrial park for aerospace and plans to develop a Defence corridor, promise an even higher degree of sophistication. Add to these Chennai emerging a strong magnet for R&D.
LNG ON TOP!
The LNG terminal at Ennore, constructed by Indian Oil, has the potential to be a game-changer. There are bright prospects for considerable investments in petrochemical, fertilizer, power and other industrial units apart from switching to piped gas for industrial and domestic consumption.
CPCL’s new refinery proposed at Nagapattinam can have a large capacity naphtha cracker as an adjunct. We can expect quantum jumps in investments in these sectors.
In the new millennium, the IT and communication technology businesses have been making significant progress. A large number of start-ups have emerged in recent times and grown into (billion-dollar) unicorns. Also, there is the innovative initiative of IIT-Madras to incubate and nurture start-ups in dozens. Funded liberally by angel investors and mentored by expert organisations like The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), we could soon see Chennai emerge as the real new Silicon Valley.
IE records its thanks to the support extended by the GIM Secretariat in presenting this issue on the state’s multifaceted economy.
