Investor confidence: On the two-day Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet, GIM 2024

Tamil Nadu must match its growth aspirations with action on the ground

By getting industry leaders to commit (to promise or give your loyalty, time, or money to a particular principle, person, or plan of action) to invest ₹6.64 lakh crore through 631 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed over the course of the two-day Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (GIM 2024), the M.K. Stalin government seems intent (giving all your attention to something) on using job creation to steer (to take someone or something or make someone or something go in the direction in which you want) the State on a growth trajectory (a path, progression, or line of development resembling a physical trajectory). The projections of an additional 26.90 lakh jobs including 14.54 lakh through direct employment are meant to reinforce (if something reinforces an idea or opinion, it provides more proof or support for it and makes it seem true) Tamil Nadu’s reputation (the general opinion that people have about someone or something) as an economic power house. In sheer (used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality or feeling is; nothing except) numbers, the success of the 2024 edition dwarfs (very small) the outcomes in 2019 and 2015. It has attracted investments in green energy, e-vehicles, non-leather footwear, automobiles, advanced electronic manufacturing, defence and aerospace and the time-tested Information Technology and digital services. Significantly, going beyond the developed Chennai and Coimbatore regions, these investments are distributed across the State, including deep down south. With the creation of support infrastructure in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns, this could pave the way for balanced regional development and partially prevent migration (the process of people travelling to a new place to live, usually in large numbers) to urban centres that are bursting at the seams (extremely full). Nine advanced nations had come in as partners and over 30 countries were participants in the conclave (a private meeting or secret assembly), whose global nature is what has inspired new entrants such as Vietnam’s EV leader VinFast to seize the opportunity to enter the Indian market from Tamil Nadu. That multinational and domestic groups including Hyundai, Tatas, Adani, Qualcomm and Saint Gobain are keen to expand their footprint shows a level of investor confidence in Tamil Nadu’s economic and governance climate.

Nonetheless, there is always a demonstrable (able to be proved or shown)  gap between expressions of interest to invest and translating the MoUs into actionable reality. This has been the case with euphoria-generating investor conclaves in general due to multiple factors such as time and on-ground constraints (something that controls what you do by keeping you within particular limits). The aspiration to make Tamil Nadu a trillion dollar economy by 2030 needs to be matched with action — the release of a vision blueprint (a complete plan that explains how to do or develop something) serves as a starting point. The Chief Minister’s public guarantee to provide the investors access to his office and grant clearances for projects through a single window system, monitored (to watch and check a situation carefully for a period of time in order to discover something about it) by an Industries Minister-headed special committee, is a welcome demonstration of the government’s commitment to its vision. A key challenge would be to ensure the potential investors have access to vast land parcels to set up their projects. In recent years, Tamil Nadu has encountered (a meeting, especially one that happens by chance) challenges in land acquisition (the process of getting something) for infrastructural projects. At the same time, transparently (in a way that is clear and easy to understand or recognize) sharing details of all MoUs and a periodic update on their progress would further boost industry confidence.

Unlock the power of words, one step further! Download the Lists of Word-Meanings of Previous Months here.