Haldia Petrochemicals to invest Rs 50,000 cr in Tamil Nadu naphtha unit

The development comes amid Chief Minister K Palaniswami's two-week trip to London, the US, and Dubai to attract investors

Haldia Petrochemicals has signed an agreement to invest Rs 50,000 crore in Tamil Nadu. At the same time, Jean Martin, Aquil Systems, Scitus Pharma, Nurray Chemicals, Novitium Labs, and Jogo Health, among others, have agreed to invest around Rs 2,780 crore in the state.

According to a Tamil Nadu government release, during Chief Minister K Palaniswami's visit to New York, Haldia Petrochemicals signed an agreement in principle to invest around Rs 50,000 crore to set up a naphtha cracker unit in the state. 

Further, during an investor meeting, 16 companies, including Jean Martin, Aquil Systems, Scitus Pharma, Nurray Chemicals, Novitium Labs, Jogo Health, ST LNG, Saram 4, Emerson, Aspire Consulting, Revature-LLC, and Zillion Technologies, agreed to invest around Rs 2,780 crore in the state, said the release.

In a bid to attract investors, Palaniswami is on a two-week trip to London, the US and Dubai.  

The 13-day trip started on August 29 from London, where Palaniswami interacted with investors in the healthcare sector, an area that the UK might have an interest in as Tamil Nadu, with its quality healthcare, is an attractive medical tourism destination. 

On Thursday, he addressed the UK Parliament and elaborated on the state's measures to attract investors and expressed willingness to work with the UK to create a new paradigm for funding green energy, water, urban infrastructure and affordable housing.

His visit to the UK included meeting investors from the energy sector in Glasgow and signing a memorandum of understanding with King's College London to set up a college in Tamil Nadu. His visit to Suffolk was aimed at learning about the renewable energy generated there and the tariff structure for it. 

Tamil Nadu has been the leader in renewable energy in India. However, last year, Karnataka overtook the state. The state continues to be the leader in wind power and might regain its position with new projects. 

Palaniswami's US trip started from Buffalo on September 1, where he and his team studied the dairy and animal husbandry sector. The chief minister is known for taking pride in the fact that he is an 'ordinary' farmer.  

At New York and San Francisco, he will be meeting potential investors. The chief minister also met officials from Caterpillar and Ford, which have set up base in Tamil Nadu.