Cabinet approves Petronas, Caterpillar investment in TN

CHENNAI: The State Cabinet on Tuesday cleared around half a dozen big ticket investments in the State, including Malaysian state oil major Petronas and US-based Caterpillar.

Meeting under the leadership of Chief Minister MK Stalin at the state secretariat amid strong rumours of a reshuffle, the State Cabinet gave its consent for the investments which has been on the anvil for some time now. The proposed two-day Global Investors Meet (GIM) scheduled for January 10 and 11, 2024 was also among the agenda.

The council of ministers were learnt to have contemplated on the reported foreign tours of the Chief Minister, likely to happen before the end of the month, and a handful of ministers to fetch investments and woo them for next year's investors meet. The meeting, government sources disclosed, also gave a thought to the impact of the annulling of the Factories Amendment Bill 2023.

The amendment enabling flexible working hours up to 12 hours per day in select sectors in the State was one of the conditions set by some MNCs, mainly those manufacturing semiconductors to invest in Tamil Nadu.