TN gets major PLI projects in electronics, automobile, says Sitharaman

Tamil Nadu has emerged as a key beneficiary under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, receiving a significant share of projects in the electronics and automobile sectors, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Addressing an event organised by Chennai Citizens' forum on Saturday evening, Sitharaman dismissed charges of the state government that the Centre has neglected Tamil Nadu in terms of funding. She said major 'big ticket' projects have been announced and are progressing at various stages of implementation across the State.

"Tamil Nadu has been the largest beneficiary under the PLI- scheme in electronics, electronic parts and automobiles. Out of the 27 companies that have received approval from the Centre, 7 are based out of Tamil Nadu," the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs noted. 

Sitharaman highlighted that 25 per cent of the companies availing benefits from the PLI scheme are from the state, she said drawing applause from the audience at the M O P Vaishnav College in the city.

Without naming the government or any individual, she rejected claims that the state received minimal revenue from central taxes. "These people arrive at a calculation that the Centre was giving a minimal amount of revenue from the central taxes. I really do not know how they pose such an argument. All I have to say is that the State has been a beneficiary in various central schemes and sector specific initiatives in the last 10 years."  She also pointed out that Tamil Nadu hosts one of the country's two major electronic parts manufacturing clusters, alongside Gujarat. An allocation of Rs 1,100 crore has been made for setting up the cluster in Tamil Nadu.

Recently, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw had visited the facility at Zetwerk near Chennai and announced that two electronics parts manufacturing clusters worth Rs 1112 crore would be established near Chennai.

Sitharaman further said, "Tamil Nadu is the second largest recipient under the PLI schemes in automobile and auto component manufacturing." Out of the 82 approved applications under the Centre's PLI scheme for automobile sector, 46 are based out of Tamil Nadu. 

Tamil Nadu has secured approval for four firms under the PLI-scheme, for advanced chemistry cell battery manufacturing.

Additionally, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 7,453 crore through the Viability Gap Funding Scheme to develop offshore shore wind energy projects in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

"With the Centre's support, the country's first Green Hydrogen Hub Port has been planned for Tuticorin," she said.

On infrastructure projects, the union minister said Tamil Nadu has added around 1,303 km of new railway lines. "Of the total railway network, about 2,242 km has been electrified, which means the trains do not run on coal or diesel."  As part of the ambitious metro rail expansion, she said nearly 54 km of the Chennai Metro has been operationalised, while approval has been granted for Phase 2 expansion at an estimated cost of Rs 63,046 crore, with 60 per cent funding from the union government.

In her concluding remarks, Sitharaman alleged that efforts were being made in Tamil Nadu to create a "diversion" by invoking issues like the three-language policy and delimitation.