While delivering the inaugural address of the first session of the 15th Legislative Assembly, he said that the state government is taking very serious efforts for the revival of the Nokia plant along with the component manufacturers.
The Chief Minister has deputed a team of officials to Taiwan recently to hold discussions with global companies like Foxconn on the issue, said the Governor.
"Issues pending with the Government of India have also been taken up at the highest level to facilitate the revival," said the Governor.
Sources in the government said that at least five companies have shown interest to revive the Nokia plant. The Nokia Factory at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu was one of the largest manufacturing facilities for mobile phones in the world.
Unfortunately, retrospective amendments to tax laws brought in 2012 by the then UPA Government forced the Nokia plant to shut down in November 2014 causing more than 15,000 direct employees to lose their jobs.
"To enable such a takeover, the Government of India would have to facilitate the defreezing of Nokia's assets, frozen by an order of the Delhi High Court in an Income Tax case, by arranging for the proceeds of the sale/lease transaction to be paid into a separate escrow account to meet the final tax liabilities. Such a course of action will ensure that the existing plant is utilized, jobs restored to thousands of persons and production commenced immediately," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa told the Prime Minister during their recent meeting.
It may be noted that global software major Microsoft bought the Finland-based Nokia's global devices and services business, including assets in India, for $7.2 billion on April 25, 2015. However, the Chennai facility was put on a freeze by the Income Tax department following a tax dispute, in which the department claimed an estimated Rs 23,000 crore from the company for some violations. The State government also slapped a tax demand notice for around Rs 2,400 crore.
