None can miss the drift. The drift is hurting. A sense of hesitation is palpable. And, the confidence is a bit on the negative side. All these have combined to demand a quick turnaround in the ground situation for Tamil Nadu to recoup its pre-eminent status as the destination of choice for industrial investment in the country.
A few events since 2017 have conspired to put the spotlight on Tamil Nadu for all the wrong reasons. The pro-jallikattu agitation on the Marina stretch in Chennai in January 2017, the forcible shifting of IPL (Indian Premier League) matches of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) out of the city and the closure of Sterlite’s copper unit at Thoothukudi have all sent negative signals to the world at large about the usually accommodative operating environment in the State. So much so, a kind of reservation has come to occupy the minds of the investor community as a whole. A quick glance at these events will reveal the reason for this reservation.
Even as it proved successful inachieving its objective, the pro-jallikattu agitation had drifted, taking an anti-MNC (multi-national company) overtone, targeting cola major Pepsi and the like, that had to expend considerable management time and resources in fire-fighting to quell the orchestrated negative campaign.
If this episode had a cautionary effect on the investor community, the CSK imbroglio had managed to hurt the assiduously built friendly image of the State. The inability to hold even a sporting event in the city of Chennai — more than anything else — it is widely argued, has driven a psychologically negative wedge in the investor thought process.
“We can bring the IPL cup to Chennai, but we can’t bring Cauvery water to Chennai,’’ quipped captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at a felicitation function for the winning CSK team. Given the context of politics in the State and in the light of these developments, a cloud of uncertainty has enveloped the industrial landscape of Tamil Nadu, especially since the closure of the Sterlite copper unit.
The Sterlite saga must be understood in proper perspective. It was a project driven out by other States. For whatever reason, the rulers in Tamil Nadu had let it in, and allowed it to run for two decades. The pollution angle is not something that has cropped up all of a sudden. It was an active issue at the point of Sterlite’s entry into the State. There is always a trade-off between industrial development and environment protection. In this instance, the trade-off was decided 20 summers ago when Sterlite was let in.
Protection for jobs
Many years on, the units, jobs and the community in the Sterlite ecosystem also need to be protected. That, however, does not absolve Sterlite of the responsibility of providing a pollution-free environment. The onus also lies with the State authorities to ensure a constant vigil. A lax attitude across the canvas may cost the State a lot.
With A.P. and Telangana engaged in competitive wooing of investors, Tamil Nadu has plenty to do to bring about a change in perception.