TN to see Rs 20,000 cr additional investment

The Tamil Nadu government is expecting an additional investment of Rs 20,000 crore in the state from various industrial sectors in the near future. The government is undertaking various policy initiatives to create better environment for the industry, said state industries minister S P Velumani.

Addressing the Italian Business Mission to Chennai in a seminar on business opportunities in Tamil Nadu, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said, new projects with total investments exceeding Rs 20,000 crore were under various stages of finalisation.

The state government has proposed to bring a set of reforms, including a new industrial policy, Vision 2025, and policies to encourage renewable energy and aerospace industry.

The said investments would come in various segments including heavy metal, automotive, electronics components and petrochemicals. The state already has a strong presence in automotive, textiles and IT and IT-enabled Services.

Inviting Italian companies to set up their operations in Tamil Nadu, and to partner with the Indian companies, he said Italy was currently ranked 12th largest investor in India and accounted for around 0.7 per cent of the total investment inflows from April 2000 to August 2011, with foreign direct investment of $1.20 billion.

The top sectors attracting FDI from Italy include transportation, food processing, metallurgy, textiles and electronic equipment, he added.