Amcham meets with Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.K. Stalin
on 20th October 2009

Mr. T.P. Chopra, Chairman, Amcham India, along with members of Amcham’s National Executive Board and the US Consul General, Mr. Andrew T. Simkin, called on the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.K. Stalin, on 20th October 2009 in his office in Chennai.

Mr. Stalin, in his welcome observations, said that Amcham had made great strides in strengthening Indo-US relations. He was happy that many American companies such as Ford, Dell, Cognizant, Motorola, Perot System to name a few had their bases in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. M.F. Farooqui, Principal Secretary (Industries), Government of Tamil Nadu, said that the foreign companies, which were already in Tamil Nadu, were doing well and many had expanded over the years. He said that the Government was willing to set up country specific parks. The Deputy Chief Minister had already announced an aerospace park near Sriperumbudur for which land had already been identified. Shortage of power was a challenge. The eastern coast of Tamil Nadu was ideally suitable for power projects. He hoped that the private sector would come forward to set up power plants. The priority of the Tamil Nadu Government was to look for clean technologies.

In response, Mr. Chopra said that American companies wanted to establish partnership with the Tamil Nadu Government. He said that the focus would be to create more investment, employment and bring about inclusive growth. Mr. Chopra emphasized the need for investment in the infrastructure sector. There was need for a nodal agency which could provide all clearances for the growth of infrastructure sector. There was also need for setting up industry clusters to harness emerging opportunities. The three specific sectors, which had great potential, were:

- Renewable energy (solar power and wind energy);
- Water management; and
- Vocational education.

There was need for establishing a single window approval system for power generation which should include land procurement, pollution control, environment clearances, etc. Mr. Narayanan Ramaswamy, Executive Director, KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd., said that Tamil Nadu would soon become a power surplus State. The single window should be able to manage PPP projects, concessional agreements, etc. He said that huge investments were waiting to happen in the infrastructure sector.

Mr. Farooqui, in his response, said that some of the suggestions made had already been initiated by the State Government. The Government was anticipating shortage of technicians and accordingly, the Deputy Chief Minister had announced setting up of three vocational collages. He said that while the Government would provide infrastructure and land, they were looking for private sector participation. Other Chambers such as CII and FICCI had already adopted vocational training parks to impart training. He said that the Government recognized the need for water management, but this needed to be speeded up.

Mr. Ajay Singha invited Mr. Farooqui to address members of Amcham’s Committees on Homeland Security and Defense Equipment on the proposed aerospace park. Mr. Simkin said that he appreciated Tamil Nadu Government’s support to American companies in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Gulshan Sachdev thanked the Deputy Chief Minister for meeting the Amcham group and enquired whether there were any incentives available for some industries. Mr. Farooqui said that incentives were available specific to industries and that is why these were called ‘structured package of incentives’.

Mr. T.P. Chopra thanked the Deputy Chief Minister for meeting with Amcham members.