Vishnu Venugopal, MD and CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu, pointed to Tamil Nadu’s multi-faceted approach to attract investments. The first being projecting the state to companies that are setting up operations to India for the first time, next is to bring companies that are in other states but not in Tamil Nadu and the last is to facilitate companies already in the state to expand here. This has worked in favour for the state and it was also reflected with multiple investments by a large number of companies during the recently concluded global investors’ meet.
Delivering the Keynote address at the 15th edition of the CII-TNTDPC conference on Automotive R&D Trends, themed ‘Charging the Future of Mobility,’ Vishnu pointed to the state’s shift in focus to high value addition jobs. To create a conducive environment for GCCs, in the recent state budget, for high paying jobs of more than Rs 100,000 per month, the government has announced to offer a payroll subsidy of 30 per cent.
He also pointed to the Guidance creating a list of various departments in universities across Tamil Nadu that excel in cutting edge research. These departments will be tied up with research organisations, to help them test waters in the state. Utilising the state-of-the-art capabilities of IIT M in electronics and semiconductors, Coherent, a world leader in photonic research has set up a small centre in IITM Research Park. Vishnu pointed to this effort soon fueling high quality research in the state. “We are continuing to identify more such universities and will project them to interested companies. This focused effort will attract more investment into R&D in the state,” said Vishnu.
Satyakam Arya, CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles pointed to the forthcoming decade as a transitioning phase for the automobile industry where players will have to quickly transition between alternating fuel options.
