CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu govt on Thursday announced a host of investment commitments across a range of industries, from electronics, textiles and engineering to emerging sectors such as space, quantum computing and life sciences.Govt signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with 97 companies involving cumulative investments of about 67,000 crore, with the potential to create 1,06,998 direct and indirect jobs, it said.In the first major investor event of the TVK govt, the state exchanged MoU documents in the presence of chief minister C Joseph Vijay at the Vetri Tamil Nadu investment conclave.A key announcement came from the space-launch sector, with Skyroot Aerospace, which recently became the first private player in the country to launch a rocket into orbit, signing an MoU to set up a facility in Tuticorin for assembling and testing launch vehicles with an outlay of 250 crore. TOI reported the development on Aug 9.“The upcoming spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam and its strong industrial ecosystem are an important part of Skyroot’s next phase of growth. Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and CTO of Skyroot Aerospace, told TOI.Naga Bharath Daka said, “The facility will strengthen our capabilities as we scale the Vikram programme towards a higher launch cadence.” Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos committed 400 crore for a launch-vehicle facility, adding to the momentum around Isro’s launchpad at Kulasekarapattinam.The largest commitments came from data centre sector, with 26,417 crore. Lighthouse Green Data Centre committed 10,000 crore to set up a hyperscale data centre in Tuticorin, making it the single largest investment announced at the event.However, little is known about the company from publicly available documents. Airtel’s data-centre subsidiary Nxtra will invest 1,417 crore.Investments were committed in sectors with existing ecosystems, such as electronics and semiconductors, electric vehicles, automobiles, aerospace, wind and textiles, while emerging sectors and traditionally weaker areas such as quantum computing and life sciences also gained ground.Four quantum-computing companies signed MoUs to set up operations in the state. Electric motorcycle startup Ultraviolette Automotive signed an MoU for Rs 779 crore to set up a plant in Krishnagiri. The conclave saw investments in the textile sector, with cumulative commitments of Rs 7,871 crore.Notable investments included MAS India of Sri Lanka for apparel and wearable-technology manufacturing.Industries minister S Keerthana said govt was focused on improving ease of doing business and had set a 21-day deadline for issuing approvals, licences and NOCs.Govt’s industrial policy is being developed with inputs from industry and other stakeholders, reflecting its belief that policy should be built with industry, she said. Govt said total investment commitments during the first 100 days crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.
