Industries Minister M.C. Sampath on Saturday insisted that all was well with the investment climate in Tamil Nadu, and that the State government was confident that the second edition of the Global Investors Meet, slated for January 2019, will be a grand success.
His statement came a day after DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin questioned the government’s claims on investments.
Mr. Sampath pointed to a survey conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), which said Tamil Nadu was the most-preferred destination to start a business, after Delhi.
In a statement, he said that in the first edition of the Global Investors Meet, held in 2015, 98 MoUs were signed, with investment commitments of more than ₹2.42 lakh crore, and that 68 firms had initiated projects, which were at various stages of implementation.
These 68 firms accounted for investments to the tune of ₹62,738 crore, and would generate around 1.10 lakh direct jobs and many more indirect jobs, Mr. Sampath said.
Constant monitoring
He said the progress on MoUs was being constantly monitored, and obstacles, if any, were promptly being cleared.
While the conversion rate for MoUs in other States which had held similar investor meetings was only 5%-15%, in Tamil Nadu, just three years on, 25% of the companies were in the process of starting operations, the Minister claimed.