Stalin woos S’pore investors, bills TN as favourable investment spot

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday met top officials of various firms in Singapore and invited them to invest in the southern state, while highlighting the conducive environment for starting new ventures.

The CM is on a two-nation official tour of Singapore and Japan to attract more investments to Tamil Nadu and invite investors for a business conclave scheduled here next January.

'Had discussion and productive engagement with the heads of major financial and industrial institutions from Singapore. The talks with Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek, Kim Yin Wong of Sembcorp and Sanjeev Dasgupta of CapitaLand reaffirmed the long-standing relations between Tamil Nadu and Singapore,'' he said in a tweet.

''They expressed their keen interest in investing in our Tamil Nadu and partner with us in our journey towards becoming a trillion-dollar economy,'' the chief minister added. The two sides explored the possibilities of expanding the existing investments in renewable energy, industrial parks and logistics to new areas like food processing and fishing. ''Looking forward to build and continue further upon the historical and mutually beneficial partnership between Tamil Nadu and Singapore,'' Stalin added.

A government release here said Stalin thanked Temasek for its existing investment in the wind power sector in Tamil Nadu and invited the company to expand its footprint in the state.

He told Wong of Sembcorp that the Government of India has simplified the regulations regarding pumped hydro storage projects and urged the company, operating in the renewable energy sector, to explore the PPP model to implement initiatives in his state, the release added.

He requested CapitaLand's contribution in creation of research and development facilities in Tamil Nadu. The release quoted the company officials as expressing keen interest to explore investment options in Tamil Nadu and assuring to take the matter forward.