TN eyes US participation in developing Finance City

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Pannerseelvam today held talks with Indian-origin governor of South Carolina in the US, Nikki Haley, on possible collaboration for the proposed Finance City in Chennai and in renewable energy projects.

The state administration also held talks with the government representatives from Japan with respect to the Chennai-Bengaluru and Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridors.

After meeting governor Haley, Tamil Nadu chief minister issued a statement, in which he stated the governor looked forward to further the business-to-business contacts and a two-way interaction.

Other possible areas of collaboration discussed during the meeting include the establishment of renewable energy projects in solar and wind, and entrepreneurship development initiatives, mentioned the official statement.

During the meeting, Tamil Nadu chief minister pointed out Tamil Nadu offers potential for cooperation with the US in the areas like automobile and auto parts, electronics hardware, information technology, biotechnology, and renewable energy. He also highlighted the state's excellent social infrastructure.

He noted that over 250 US companies have invested $4 billion in Tamil Nadu and were employing over 175,000 individuals directly and another 250,000 indirectly. The companies include Ford, Caterpillar, Cognizant Technology Solutions among others.

Amway, Delphi, Allison Transmission, DELL, and Flextronics. Automobiles, auto components, Electronic hardware and Information Technology are the prime areas of investment in Tamil Nadu by American companies.

The Chief Minister also met a business delegation led by Muneo Kurauchi, chairman, The Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee.

According to the statement, the delegation discussed the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and the Madurai Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor and the manner in which Japan and Japanese companies could take part in the exercise.

It may be noted, Japan has emerged as the fourth largest investor in India. Studies done by JBIC and JETRO have ranked India as the second most attractive investment destination for Japanese companies. Tamil Nadu is now emerging as one of the largest recipients of Japanese investment.

Japan international Cooperation Agency (JICA) supports a number of projects in Tamil Nadu including the Chennai Metro Rail Project. Tamil Nadu and JICA have also the formulated a very innovatively designed Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme (TNIPP).

Tamil Nadu had 286 Japanese companies doing business and it has crossed 600 in October, 2014. He mentioned some of the notable Japanese companies doing business in Tamil Nadu included Nissan, Toshiba, Unipress, Mitsubishi and Komatsu.