Tamil Nadu Cabinet clears investments worth Rs 6,000 crore

Of the two investment proposals in the textile sector, one is on the technical textile segment, a source said.

Tamil Nadu Cabinet on Saturday cleared 10 investment proposals in diverse segments, including the nascent electric vehicles (EV) and Global Capability Centres (GCC) sectors, worth Rs 6,000 crore aimed at providing job opportunities to 27,000 people.

Highly placed sources told DH that one of the investments in the EV segment will be made in the Hosur-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri (HDK) region which has now emerged as the hub for the sector with several major players like Ola, Ather, and TVS Motor Company making it their home.

Of the 10 proposals, two are in the EV sector, three in general manufacturing, two GCCs as part of the research and development (R&D) policy, two in the textile sector, and one in electronics.

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“While one EV investment will be in the HDK region, the other one will be near Chennai,” a person aware of the cabinet discussions told DH, refusing to divulge further details, citing “investor sensitivities.”

Of the two investment proposals in the textile sector, one is on the technical textile segment, the source said. “The overall value of the proposals cleared today is Rs 6,000 crores bringing employment to about 27,000 persons,” the source added.

Another source said investments or expansion plans by key Apple supplier Salcomp (electronics), Schneider (general manufacturing), and United Parcel Service (GCC) are some of the projects that were approved by the Cabinet. FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Limited’s (GCPL) proposal to set up a plant in Chennai with an investment of Rs 300 crore was also cleared, the second source added.

Salcomp, which supplies chargers to Apple phones, has multiple manufacturing units in the Nokia Telecom Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.

The investments come months before the state is to hold its third edition of the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) in January 2024 and three days after a high level delegation from Foxconn Industrial Internet (Fii), the largest subsidiary of Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Company, met Chief Minister M K Stalin here.

The delegation gave a commitment to make further investments in the state, where Foxconn has a significant presence with its Sriperumbudur facility assembling high-end Apple iPhone 13 and iPhone 14.

The Tamil Nadu government is bullish on the EV sector – it released an exclusive policy in 2019 and upgraded it in 2023 – accounting for over 34 per cent of total planned investments in the sector with not just EV firms but battery manufacturers like BYD, Grinntech, Lucas-TVS, and Li Energy setting up their units in the state.

The state, which is already home to top 16 electronics manufacturers, including Nokia, Samsung, Flex, Dell, Motorola, Salcomp, HP, and Foxconn, wants the electronics industry to be on par with automobiles that accounts to 37.6% of the country's automobile and auto component exports, apparel (30.8 percent) and footwear (46.4 percent).