Industrialists bat for a long-haul workhorse named Tamil Nadu

At a CII conference on Ease of Doing Business in Tamil Nadu on the theme ‘The Land of Opportunities,’ speakers sought to present the multiple advantages of the state and its progress in diversified disciplines. Industrialists present among the audience took turns to vouch for their investments in TN. They said they continue to bet on the state for parking funds for growth and expansion activities.

K Ramasamy, Chairman, Roots Group of Companies, said, “We are in a diversified business and we export 50 per cent of our products to global markets. We have been studying new business models and have earmarked Rs 138 crore for three different projects, which will provide employment to 620 people in a phased manner.”

Past experiences, irrespective of governments in power had turned him a sceptic, he said, citing the reasons for being apprehensive of getting fast track clearances. But he was pleasantly surprised that the message of “every file gets cleared in 48 hours” came true as within 29 days of filing the application, the company made rapid strides. The Guidance bureau facilitated the process and within seven days, two projects were cleared while the third one awaited the ‘no objection certificate’ from the Coimbatore Collector.

“TN is a strategic location and will soon emerge as the most preferred state within the country and abroad,” Ramasamy added.

With the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act in place, TN is witnessing more investments from both large and small-scale industries, said MC Sampath, Minister for Industries, Steel Control and Special Initiatives, TN.

M Velmurugan, Executive Vice Chairman - Investment Promotion, Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance & Export Promotion Bureau, in his presentation, sought to dispel the myth about TN slipping in rank or losing investments to neighbouring states.

“TN is a silent performer. We don’t boast, even when we have big achievements to our credit,” he said, noting that the independent agencies had evaluated the state’s performance in 10 parameters. “It is the best among Indian states in terms of overall performance in all sectors,” Velmurugan said, adding the consistent growth of 8 per cent had moved it from fifth to second spot and TN’s GDP had made it 32nd largest in the world, bigger than countries like Vietnam.

He also said the single window clearance that TN pioneered owed its origin to an idea mooted by Ford, when the US auto MNC preferred to invest in the state to others. Instead of having multiple agencies, the point of having a single window was brought forth. But then it did not have the legal backing. However, the passing of TN Business Facilitation Act this year empowered the entity with a legal backing with provisions for deemed approval and delinquencies.

Murugavel Janakiraman, Convenor, Ease of Doing Business Panel, CII Tamil Nadu & Founder and MD, Matrimony.com Ltd, said, “A lot of initiatives are happening at the state level and TN in particular is doing well in terms of EoDB.” The state has reached the 15th position in the business reform action plan of 2017, he added.