TN’s third edition of Global Investors’ Meet to focus on moving up the value chain

Chennai: With Tamil Nadu emerging as the frontrunner for investments in sectors like electronics manufacturing and electric vehicles (EVs), the state wants to utilise the third edition of Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) in January 2024 to move up the value chain in various sectors by wooing ecosystem builders and enablers to set up shops in the state. 

The state government has already declared that the GIM to be held on January 7 and 8 at the Chennai Trade Centre here will “not merely focus on numbers” but also on high-value jobs.

Besides electronics, the focus during the GIM-III will also be on sunrise sectors like semiconductors and non-leather footwear and traditional ones such as automotive which includes EVs.

“This GIM will attempt at being different from the previous ones by focussing on employment generation, projects that are capital intensive, and moving up the value chain. We will also look at transitioning from Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) to high-value jobs,” V Vishnu, MD & CEO, Guidance, the state’s nodal agency for investments, told DH.

‘Bringing ecosystem enablers & builders’

The emphasis is to bring in “ecosystem enablers and builders” in sectors like electronics, and EV to emerge as the leader by building on the component manufacturing ecosystem that exists in Tamil Nadu, Vishnu added. 

The state would play on both of its human resources strength in attracting investments in electronics and electronics design, Vishnu said, adding that Tamil Nadu has seen several big-ticket projects in the electronics sector with companies like Cisco choosing the state. 

Industries Minister T R B Raaja said GIM-III will also showcase Tamil Nadu as not only a state which continues to flourish as a manufacturing hub but as one which has also gone beyond manufacturing to become a “knowledge economy.”

“We have witnessed premier global companies opening and expanding in Chennai in the past several months. They bring immense value by generating high-tech, high-value job opportunities in cutting-edge areas of technology,” Raaja told DH.

Avenues in several new areas

Non-leather footwear is another major focus area for GIM-III with the state already witnessing massive investments from top Taiwanese players like Pou Chen Corporation and Feng Tay who manufacture footwear for almost all global brands like Nike, Adidas, and Timberland. 

Hongfu, another big player from Taiwan, will be the latest to set up a non-leather manufacturing unit in Panapakkam in Ranipet district with the state already accounting for 45 per cent of exports in the leather footwear sector. 

Raaja said while TN has largely consolidated its strengths in manufacturing over the past few years, the state has potential to go higher in the manufacturing value chain, even in well established sectors like TechTex in Textiles. EV, Aerospace and Defence, and renewable energy.

“This is visible today as Tamil Nadu gets investments in GCCs, R&D and design to become the true knowledge economy in addition to being the auto, manufacturing, and allied industries hub,” he added.

Diversifying from Chennai

The GIM will also see celebrated author Chris Miller, who wrote the bestseller ‘Chip War’, Micron Managing Director Anand Ramamoorthy, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, First Solar CEO Mark R Widmar, ISRO chief S Somanath address about 20 sessions on various topics. 

Vishnu also said the GIM will also work towards diversifying from Chennai by taking several industries to south Tamil Nadu, which is slowly picking up pace. 

“We are attracting investors in the EV side to pick up the Future Mobility Park in Hosur, which is already home to Ola and Ather, and the EV Park in Tiruvallur district near Chennai. We are also positioning Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts for several sectors,” Vishnu added. 

In the past few years, Tamil Nadu has played host to two of Apple Inc’s key suppliers, Foxconn and Pegatron, and home-grown Tata Electronics Private Limited and Taiwan’s Delta Electronics making it one of the key destinations for investments in the sector. 

Electronics ecosystem

Foxconn is also venturing into high-end component manufacturing by investing Rs 1,600 crore. The company, according to sources, is in talks with a private industrial park in Oragadam in Kanchipuram district to set up its facility. 

With ramping up and launch of production by Foxconn, Pegatron, and TEPL in the past year, Tamil Nadu piped Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra to clinch the no. 1 slot in the country in electronics exports in 2023 fiscal.

For the first time, Apple assembled its flagship iPhones at Foxconn’s factory in Sriperumbudur near here at the same time production began in China. Foxconn and Pegatron have also indicated that they will invest more in Tamil Nadu to expand their existing facilities.

“We are focusing on bringing more anchor companies in the electronics and EV sectors to Tamil Nadu. Once these companies come into the state, they bring in their own vendors besides utilizing the services of the vibrant presence of MSMEs in the state, “ the bureaucrat said. 

Vishnu added that the state government was in talks with several global and domestic players who are already in Tamil Nadu for expansion projects and new companies to invest afresh in the state during the two-day summit. 

According to data released by the government, Tamil Nadu accounts for nearly 40 per cent of total planned investments in the EV sector with not just EV firms but battery manufacturers like BYD, Grinntech, Lucas-TVS, and Li Energy setting up their units in the state.