Davos 2023: Tamil Nadu Is In Better Position To Attract Investment, Says Industries Minister

Tamil Nadu has positioned itself fairly well on the global platform of the World Economic Forum 2023, compared to its debut last year, according to the Minister for Department of Industries of Tamil Nadu Thangam Thennarasu.

While the southern state didn't sign any memorandums of understanding, it did have discussions that would hopefully lead to future investments, Thennarasu told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah, during an interview on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos.

"Within the span of 1.5 years, since the new government came to power in Tamil Nadu, we are now in a position to attract investments around Rs 2.3 lakh crore and create employment opportunities for about 3 lakh people in the state," he said.

Electronics, electric vehicle manufacturing, automobiles, and renewable energy are some of the key sectors that the government of Tamil Nadu is intending to attract investments in.

Tamil Nadu will also be organising the Global Investors Summit on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 next year to discuss potential investments and establish commitments before the World Economic Forum 2024.

What makes Tamil Nadu different is its "technical strengths", according to Thennarasu.

"We have the highest enrollment ratios, and higher education is around 52%, followed by most universities and engineering colleges," he said.

He mentioned the textile, manufacturing and automobile industries as strong sectoral strengths for the state.

As the world is gradually shifting to EVs and renewable energy, Tamil Nadu has "created fresh policies that will help the production of these new-age batteries and will support the EV ecosystem", he said.

The state government is also in the process of identifying a specific mobility park near Hosur, where vast lengths of land have been earmarked for EV manufacturing facilities, the minister said.

While automobile manufacturing has a strong base in the state, they are also interested in "sunrise sectors" such as fintech and data centers. "We are also in the process of creating global capability centers," he said.

Research and development, aerospace, and defence are some of the other sectors that the government is focusing on.

In terms of execution of investments from global investors, and given the volume of MoUs the state has signed, Thennarasu said the success rate of MoUs translating to actual investment has been over 60%.