TN lost Rs 1,720 Cr Korean investment to Andhra due to govt’s lapses, says BJP

CHENNAI: BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran on Sunday accused the DMK government of allowing a Rs 1,720 crore South Korean investment to slip to Andhra Pradesh, alleging that the State's "administrative failures and complacent governance" had cost Tamil Nadu 20,000 direct job opportunities.

In a statement, Nainar Nagenthran said the South Korean firm Hwasung, which had initially planned to invest Rs 1,720 crore in Tamil Nadu, has now shifted its project to Andhra Pradesh. "Chief Minister M K Stalin, are you aware that Hwasung, once preparing to invest in Tamil Nadu, has now officially chosen Andhra Pradesh instead?" he asked.

Accusing the CM of failing to protect the State's economic interests, the BJP leader said Tamil Nadu has lost nearly 20,000 direct job opportunities, which, he claimed, "rightfully belonged to Tamil Nadu's aspiring youth."

"Every time the Chief Minister loudly claims that 'Tamil Nadu will never bow its head, ' he must remember that his government's inefficiency is precisely what has pushed the State into such embarrassing situations, " Nainar charged.

The Tirunelveli MLA further alleged that the DMK government has developed a pattern of announcing "grandiose investment claims" only to watch them quietly move to neighbouring states later. "Like the fable of 'The Tiger is coming, ' the government repeatedly advertises incoming investments, and then news emerges that these very investments have gone elsewhere. This has become a continuing saga, " he said.

Taking a dig at Stalin's overseas investment tours, the BJP legislature leader claimed they had yielded little. "Travelling abroad in the name of attracting investments and returning empty-handed, failing even to retain projects that land at our doorstep, and steadily damaging Tamil Nadu's economic future, these define your government today, " he alleged.

Nainar added that the CM's recent remark about coming to power again "to make Tamil Nadu hold its head high" was ironic. "Given the State's declining investment climate, such claims only invite laughter, not confidence," he said.