Tamil Nadu assures investors of red carpet welcome

Chennai: Assuring investors of a red carpet welcome waiting for them in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin secured investments exceeding Rs 900 crore at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Chengalpattu, paving the way for 4,100 new jobs in multiple sectors, on his first day in San Francisco, which set a promising tone for the days to follow.

‘With two more weeks ahead, we continue to intensify this momentum and attract more investors to Tamil Nadu, propelling our march towards a trillion dollar economy,’ Stalin said in his post on X after ‘an invigorating evening at the Investors’ Conclave on Friday.

MoUs were signed in his presence with the world's 6 leading industries namely Nokia, PayPal, Yield Engineering Systems, Microchip Technology, Infinx Healthcare and Applied Materials, an official press release said.

Speaking at the conclave, Stalin said Tamil Nadu was India’s second biggest economy with more than 300 US companies already setting up industries there. He wanted more US companies to invest in the State as every company was important in one way or the other.

Thanking all the companies, particularly those from San Francisco Bay and California, that had attended the conclave, he said he was glad that the development journey of Tamil Nadu, the fastest growing economy in the world, had figured in the big companies of the US because of the conclave.

Tamil Nadu was the gateway to Asia with over 39,000 industries employing 26 million factory workers, the highest number in the country, and its industrial units were spread out in such a manner that people managed to get jobs close to their homes, he said

Describing the State as 48 percent urbanized, known for its human resources and skilled workforce, he said 20 percent of the country’s top educational institutions were situated there and its overall college admissions were two times higher than the national average.

Of the entire industrial women work force in the country, 45 per cent was from Tamil Nadu, which was also the leading State in medical tourism in South Asia, he said.

The Chief Minister, who left Chennai on Tuesday night and reached San Francisco on Wednesday, attracted the first batch of investments. Of them Nokia will set up the world's largest fixed network testing facility with a new R&D facility at Siruseri at an investment of Rs 450 crore and generating employment for 100 persons.

PayPal Holdings Company signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to set up an Advanced Development Centre focused on AI with a potential employment generation for about 1000 persons and Yield Engineering Systems signed an MoU for setting up a Product development and manufacturing facility for semiconductor equipment at Sulur, Coimbatore with an investment of Rs.150 crore generating 300 jobs.

Microchip Technology Inc. signed the MoU for setting up a R&D Centre in Semiconductor Technology at Chennai with an investment of Rs.250 crore generating employment for 1500 persons and Infinx will set up a Technology and Global Delivery Centre at ELCOT, Madurai with an investment of Rs.50 crore generating employment to 700 persons.

Applied Materials will set up an Advanced Artificial Intelligence Enabled Technology Development Centre for semiconductor manufacturing and equipment at Taramani, Chennai with a potential employment generation of 500 persons.