Tamil Nadu has signed investment deals worth Rs 52,800 crore during an Investors Meet in New York with Chief Minister K. Palaniswami. Memorandums of Understanding for 11 projects and for four investment promotion cooperation were signed in early September with an assurance from Mr Palaniswami that “the state will always stand by you and provide you with the best possible investment experience.” The areas of investment ranged from petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to software development and automation. Mr Palaniswami said that the state had 8,000 acres ready for building facilities and it had a record of being investor-friendly. He pitched Tamil Nadu as a destination for defence and aerospace industries, with the central government planning a corridor in the state for this sector. The state’s Industries Principal Secretary N. Muruganandam said that Tamil Nadu has announced an aerospace and defence industrial policy which gives special incentives to enterprises in the sector with subsidies for capital, land and skills development.

Electronic vehicle manufacturing is another sunrise sector the state is targeting, he said. As business relations grow between the US and India, particularly Tamil Nadu, this marks a historic anniversary, Mr Wisner said. This year is the 225th anniversary of the setting up of US diplomatic representation in Madras, as Chennai was known in 1794, by William Abbott, who became the consular agent, he said.

—Arul Louis