Edappadi K Palaniswami

CHENNAI: Taking pride in his successful foreign trip, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday stated that the Tamil diaspora and the industrialists of the UK , the US and Dubai had shown keen interest in investing in Tamil Nadu, the second leading state in industrial scene and first in micro, small and medium enterprises.

During his three-nation tour, the Palaniswami-led delegation signed 41 memorandums of understanding, which carry a total investment commitment of Rs 8,835 crore. The commitments are expected to generate employment opportunities to 35,520 people.

“Investors from every sector showed interest in investing in the state. Tamil diaspora, in particular. Many who met me wanted to set up IT parks. None of the chief ministers visited abroad for a long time and we have resolved that drawback,” the CM told reporters at Chennai airport on his return. He said the delegation received a rousing reception from the diaspora that constituted 35% of IT workforce in the US.

Detailing the aspects of his visit and the meeting with prospective investors, the chief minister said that representatives of Haldia Petrochemicals Limited had given assurance to start a naphtha cracker plant in the state with an investment commitment of Rs 50,000 crore.

“They will meet me in Chennai. We expect that thousands of people will get jobs,” Palaniswami said. He took pride in launching his ambitious programme, Yaadhum Oorey, in the US to attract investments from Tamil diaspora. He also inaugurated Digital Accelerator to assist the investors with a financial support of 10% of the total investments – in collaboration with American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association.

Expressing confidence that the investment commitments would be realised soon, Palaniswami said the state was the best destination for investments with the robust infrastructure in place, including single window clearances for business ventures and skilled workforce.

“I invited Tesla electric vehicle unit in San Francisco. They say they will consider… They will visit the state shortly. We will also take efforts to Bloom Energy, a solid oxide fuel cell manufacturing company, to invest in the state,” Palaniswami said.

He visited a demonstration facility of wastewater treatment in the city of Anaheim in Los Angeles.

Taking a dig at the opposition leader M K Stalin’s criticism of the foreign tours of the cabinet members, the chief minister said this was out of ‘jealousy and irritation.’

“He has been doing it from the day of me assuming charge. What he thought did not take place and hence he criticises,” he said, justifying his exposure tour and that of his colleagues to upgrade the facilities and improve the schemes.

Given his announcement to set up a massive 900-acre integrated livestock park of international standards, in his native Salem district, the chief minister visited a dairy farm in Buffalo that generates 1.2 lakh litre of milk a day from 3,000 buffalo breeds.

On his next tour, Palaniswami said, “Israel… The country is best in water and reuse management. We have to see that given the failure of monsoon wreaking havoc in farm sector.”

The state would take all efforts to upgrade the tourism sector akin to the foreign countries given that it would brighten the economy with investments and generate jobs, Palaniswami said.

While his dapper suit avatar evoked lot of interest back in the state, the CM said he had worn the western attire to gain respect and admiration from the investors abroad. “We have to fulfil their wish. It was on that basis only,” the CM said with a smile.

