Tamil Nadu CM sends feelers to 11 automotive CEOs to invest in the state

Palaniswami promised customised incentive package to majors like Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, among others

Continuing his efforts to woo the top global industry players to set up shop in India, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami reached out to 11 global automotive company chief executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, inviting them to invest in the State. 

The Chief Minister decided to personally reach out the 11 global heads of companies in the Automobile sector by writing directly to them. The people he reached out to include Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess,  Skoda's Bernhard Maier, Mercedes-Benz Chairman Ola Kallenius, Audi's Markus Duesmann, Honda President Takahiro Hachigo,  Toyota President Akio Toyoda, BMW Chairman Oliver Zipre, Luxgen Taoyuan Motor Co Ltd CEO Hu Kai-Chang, Ralph D Speth of Jaguar Land Rover Ltd,  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors and Chevrolet Mary T. Barra and Elon Musk of Tesla.

The letters written to them outline the investment attractiveness and inherent advantages of Tamil Nadu, which the CM said offers excellent support for business and industry to further their growth.  Palaniswami also promised a customized incentive package as per their requirement.

The State government had earlier reached out to electronics, aerospace and defence company majors with a similar invitation.

 

"Due to the Covid-19 impact on the world economy, many overseas industries are likely to exit from certain countries and relocate their manufacturing activities to countries like India," said the State government announcement. 

Tamil Nadu is already an auto hub with international players like Hyundai, Ford, Renault-Nissan, Peugeot, BMW, Daimler and several homegrown automobile majors like TVS Motor and Ashok Leyland. 

The State has been taking various initiatives to attract this investment, including creation of Country-Specific Investment Facilitation Desks, Diplomatic Outreach Programmes and constitution of a special task force for investment promotion.

The Chief Minister has also constituted a special Investment Promotion Task Force under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary for attracting these investments.  

The State Government has recently signed MoUs with 17 foreign investments for Rs 15,128 crore.