We will not discriminate against projects signed during erstwhile regime, says T.N. Industries Minister

Our motto is to make Tamil Nadu one of the leading destinations for attracting investments, says Thangam Thennarasu

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu accompanied Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on his visit to the United Arab Emirates for attracting investments into Tamil Nadu. In an interview with TheHindu, Mr. Thennarasu elaborates on the steps being taken by the Tamil Nadu government to attract investments and the specific sectors which the State is focussing on, and how the DMK government would not discriminate against the projects that were signed during the erstwhile AIADMK regime.

What are the steps being taken by the State government to facilitate an atmosphere conducive to business?

Our Single Window Portal 2.0 offers investors 100 digitised services spread across 24 departments. An additional 100 services shall be onboarded by the end of 2022. The government recently released the Tamil Nadu Fintech Policy and the Export Promotion Strategy in order to encourage the development of the FinTech ecosystem and increase exports from the State.

The government is also working on new policies such as Life Sciences & Manufacturing policy, R&D policy and updates to the EV policy to accelerate the growth of these sectors. The government is in the process of establishing eight new Industrial parks over an extent of 5,600 acres in Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Dharmapuri districts. It is also proposing to establish new industrial parks in Coimbatore, Perambalur, Madurai and Vellore districts to promote balanced regional industrial development in the State.

Product-specific industrial parks such as Apparel Park and Footwear Component Park have already been established. The State government is in the process of developing sector specific parks. The Chief Minister has already laid the foundation for an International Furniture Park in Thoothukudi. Besides, the government is planning to establish other sector specific parks such as Medical Devices Park at Oragadam, Leather Product Park at Ranipet, 3 Food Parks in Manappari, Tindivanam and Theni, two exclusive electronics clusters will be established at Pillaipakkam & Mannallur and a mega leather Footwear & Accessories Cluster is porposed at Panappakkam. Besides, an integrated Apparel Park/Mega Textile Parks are proposed at Dharmapuri district.

Biz Buddy is an industry help desk portal designed to facilitate B2G interactions between investors and the State government with the objective of providing enhanced aftercare services through a streamlined redressal mechanism. Guidance has several in-house teams to support investors along the project lifecycle starting from the pre-establishment to the post-establishment phase and aftercare. The Export Cell in Guidance shall provide export organisations in Tamil Nadu different services such as facilitation of export related queries, matchmaking between trade partners, redressal of export related issues, knowledge services, export promotion and outreach engagements.

A UAE-specific country desk which has been set up in Guidance to facilitate investors’ discussions, engage with the country’s diplomatic corps, trade organisations, and industrial associations. The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is a bilateral trade pact which includes products such as leather, processed agriculture and dairy products, handicrafts, gems & jewellery, furniture, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, engineering products, and services.