Entrepreneurs and investors are shying away from Tamil Nadu because of controversies over non-issues, apathy of the officials and corruption at high places, according to representatives of various trade and industry bodies.
The latest incident to baffle entrepreneurs and would be investors was Monday’s incident at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras where Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Surface Transport and Shipping laid the foundation stone for a State-of-the art National Technology Centre.
The invocation song Maha Ganapathim sung by the students of IIT-Madras created a flutter among the Dravidian politicians in the State and led to an avoidable brouhaha.
“The programme itself had a controversial beginning and what is the guarantee that this centre would come up as announced by the Union Minister,” said a senior industrialist based in Tamil Nadu. “The media had a field day while investors and entrepreneurs would see it as a drawback. What we require is peaceful atmosphere conducive to doing business in the State,” said the industrialist who did not want his name to be quoted.
The battle over Cauvery water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has also caused apprehension in the minds of entrepreneurs.
“The message which we get is that there is no proper water supply in Tamil Nadu. The resentment against two soft-drink manufacturing units and the subsequent denial of license to these companies have added to the woes of the prospective industrialists,” said a liaison agent working for major clients.
“Many investors and entrepreneurs have moved over to nearby Andhra Pradesh. The process of getting clearance and permission from the Andhra Pradesh State Government and related departments is a smooth affair. Many of the units which were to set shops in Tamil Nadu went to Andhra Pradesh because of the pro-active approach of the Government led by Chandra Babu Naidu,” said the liaison agent.
The demonstrations and road blocks staged by various political parties and trade unions against the recent hike in bus fares and the protest marches by Government officials seeking pay scale have dampened the spirit of prospective investors.
The black flag demonstrations staged against the Governor of the State by Opposition parties too have caused concerns.
“We are seeing these things with our own eyes. This is not going to help Tamil Nadu,” said a veteran expert of one of the trade bodies.
The arrest of a vice-chancellor of one of the universities and the subsequent revelations by college teachers has not done any good to the image of the State. Officials in Tamil Nadu secretariat pointed out that this could be the reasons for the failure in realising the Memorandums of Understanding signed between the State Government and different companies in the Global Investors Meet held in September 2015.
“We signed MoUs worth Rs 2,42,000 crore. But wat has been realized till date is Rs 32,702 crore,” said a senior official of the department of industries based in Fort Saint George, Chennai (Tamil Nadu’s Secretariat).
He said the investors need not worry about the investments because Tamil Nadu is a safe state.
“Though MoUs worth Rs 1.07 lakh crore were signed in the energy sector, not a single project has taken off till date,” said the official. Though the second GIM was scheduled for 2017, it did not materialise and the Tamil Nadu Government has set January 23 and 24, 2019 as the dates for the next meet.
