Infrastructure Development

Other Investment

Other Investment

The major sectors for investment are automobile and wind energy, IT, electronic hardware, chemical and fertilizers, renewable energy, while aerospace and defense are the new emerging growth areas in the state. The Government of India had announced two defense industrial corridors; one of them is in Tamil Nadu.

“We have a Vision 2023 plan, under which about 57.4 billion dollars is being invested in urban infrastructure and we propose to expand the power capacity to around 55 GW by 2023,” Muruganandam said.  Katie Hayes, head of Government and Corporate Affairs at Caterpillar (USA), and James Rowland, manager of International Government Relations, at Ford – both companies have strong presence in Tamil Nadu - also spoke at the New York event. 

Mukesh Aghi, the USISPF President and CEO, referred to the ongoing trade friction between the U.S. and China which had built itself up as the manufacturing hub of the global industry. Aghi revealed that “we have seen roughly 200 US companies asking us what do we have to do to come to India”.  

Former US Ambassador to India Frank Wisner recommended that for India to attract additional foreign investment, the Indian government should produce laws that ensure easy employment of labor, land acquisition and reliability of tax systems.

Wisner called for providing a “welcoming framework” for foreign investors, by helping the latter find land, get clearances and have educational and health infrastructure. “All this will ensure that Tamil Nadu is the recipient of not just U.S. investment but global investment as well, including from China and elsewhere,” the former U.S. ambassador said.

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Secretary K Shanmugam highlighted the state government’s policies of promoting investments, pointing out that the state had a line-up of a “large number of infrastructure projects in urban development, urban transportation,” as well as a FINTECH city, which would benefit U.S.-based FINTECH companies.

The state’s so-called “Vision 2023”, which serves as a blueprint for its growth and development, also emphasizes the need for world-class infrastructure in Tamil Nadu.   It places heavy emphasis on infrastructure development because, as one official explained, infrastructure development “being investment-intensive, in its own right generates significant employment opportunities and economic growth”.  Also, infrastructure development creates “huge positive externalities in the economy by providing a fillip to economic and social development across all sectors”. The infrastructure sector includes Power, Water & Sanitation, Transportation, Irrigation, Ports, Airports, Connectivity, Housing, Healthcare and Education.  According to Tamil Nadu sources, the total investment on infrastructure is estimated around US$ 330 billion by 2023.  

Tamil Nadu is planning to build 2000 km of 6-8 lane expressways, 5000 km of 4 lane highways, and all highways being at least double lanes and with paved shoulders.  The capacity of ports in Tamil Nadu is to be incrementally increased to over 150 million tonnes per annum, including 15 million TEUs of container capacity.  All urban points, with population exceeding 500,000, will be connected with high speed rail corridors for both freight and passenger traffic. Airport capacity for passengers will also be increased to handling 80 million passengers per annum across all airports in the state, with Chennai alone accounting for half the capacity

Infrastructure development will be financed from a mix of public and private funding, with more than two-thirds of funding sourced from the private sector. 

Infrastructure development includes establishment of three large green field multi-cargo non-major ports with incremental aggregate capacity of 150 million tonnes to handle dry bulk, imported/domestic coal for power generation, liquid cargo, and containerized cargo. A freight corridor connecting Chennai and Thoothukudi is on the cards as also a Metro/Mono rail for two cities (other than Chennai).