Last week, at the inauguration of Hero Motocorp’s eight motorcycle plant, company CMD Pawan Munjal spoke about his choice of factory site. Hero, he said, had almost finalised another top southern destination where the company’s Rs1,600 crore investment was headed. But a dinner meeting with Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu changed all that. Naidu convinced Munjal that Sri City in Andhra Pradesh was the best option for a new automobile plant. "I told him (Munjal) that I, my industry ministry team and the local district magistrate will offer every support to this project," said Naidu at the inauguration event. "I said if there’s any problem you can personally call me any time of the day or night. I said you need to come to Andhra Pradesh and see the difference between my government and other governments," he added.

This wasn’t mere bluster. Industry sources say Hero was negotiating with both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu but Naidu’s aggressive push, Andhra Pradesh’s logistics, administrative support and infrastructure plans swung the deal in favour of Sri City. The Hero project is one in several automotive and hardware investments that have moved to Andhra Pradesh. And Naidu’s new industrial corridor plan will further blunt the industrial edge that TN and Karnataka have enjoyed so long. Already MNC auto investors Isuzu and Kia have opted for Sri City. Other biggies like Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge and TVS Brakes are also headed the same way, said Naidu.

Does that mean TN’s Oragadam-Sriperumbudur corridor is losing its Motown edge?

Listening to Naidu extoll the virtues of his administration leaves no doubt about his goals. Naidu said the ongoing investments in Andhra Pradesh will create 13.75 lakh new jobs.

"Andhra is number one in ease of doing business and Sri City has already mopped up Rs35,000 crore in automotive investments. I am benchmarking the state with five top countries and working with Lee Kuan Yew Institute to improve our performance,’’ Naidu said.

His long term plan is to use Sri City’s proximity to Chennai airport and Anantapur’s to Bengaluru airport to attract investment to his own industrial corridor, stretching from south of Nellore to Anantapur to Chittoor. He wants to use his state’s strategic logistic location to push for more investments. "Andhra Pradesh is a central location for the south and for access to the north. Krishnapatnam is emerging as a promising port,’’ he added.

Naidu is offering an ambitious "can-do" that’s missing in both TN and Karnataka. For instance, when Munjal announced that his factory would begin operations by December 2019, Naidu said he would like to do so by March 2019.

Tamil Nadu has in the past 24 months lost out on some big ticket auto investments in the country. The state’s only saving grace is French auto major PSA and CK Birla Group’s 50:50 new powertrain plant in Hosur where the partners will pump in Rs700 crore. The Oragadam-Sriperumbudur belt still has some of the biggest automotive names in the business. But unless the state administration improves labour, logistics, infrastructure and most importantly administrative support, the next rush of Motown money will continue to trickle away, taking precious jobs with it.

