Tamil Nadu should get record investments at investor summit, says Industries Minister

Tamil Nadu could net a record quantum of investment proposals at its upcoming global investor summit than similar summits in the past, said Minister of Industries and Investment Promotion, TRB Rajaa. In an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18, Rajaa added that the quantum could even outdo the DMK’s recent investment blitzkrieg since winning state elections in 2021.

In the 2015 summit, Tamil Nadu netted ₹2.42 lakh crore in proposed investments, while the state’s second summit in 2019 saw it record over ₹2 lakh crore in investment proposals.

On the anvil are multiple investments in electronics too, with good reason. At the end of FY-23, Tamil Nadu was India’s largest exporter of electronics, with a total export value of $5.37 billion. In December, the state had already hit $4.78 billion worth of electronics exports.

For context, second-placed Uttar Pradesh has only accounted for $2.5 billion in electronics exports, in this period. Rajaa has estimated that Tamil Nadu would close FY-24 with $8 billion in electronics exports: “It is about the capability of our labour force — those coming in have nimble hands that can produce consistently amazing quality products,” he said, “That in itself is adding to the value of Tamil Nadu as a manufacturing destination, especially in the electronics sector.”

The minister added: “Numbers don’t matter to us because we know we are getting there ($8 billion in electronics export for FY-24); our targets are higher, and we’re going to grow much more than $8 billion, very soon.”

The government believes there is room to sustain an approximate growth rate of 32% in the electronics sector, “at least for the next decade”. Rajaa said: “We can’t do this forever — there are limitations in workforce, land, and power, but I see this going on for at least the next decade or two. We will sustain this at least for a decade, I think.”

Building new dorms for factory labour

Rajaa said the state was sufficiently apprised of contract workers’ working and living conditions and was looking to improve them. “It all boils down to what my labour force is going to get, how they are going to be treated, and how their life is going to flourish,” he said, “Whatever we bring (in investments), our first focus in the health of our labour, and the well-being of our labour force.”

When pressed on the Foxconn story in Time Magazine, Rajaa said the process of building new dormitories was underway. “We’re building dormitories now,” he said, “Foxconn is a big name and there’s a lot of media interest around it. There’s no big issue there, right now, These dormitories are going to be built especially for women, around any industry, coming to Tamil Nadu.”