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| Second-rung auto firms begin to enter India |
| BS Reporter / Chennai Sep 04, 2010, 00:27 IST |
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Investments into Tamil Nadu would exceed Rs20,000 crore during the present calendar year, an increase of 66 per cent over last year, according to a senior state official from the industry department. The government has received proposals worth Rs7,000 crore, mainly from automobile companies one of which includes South Korea’s second largest car marker Kia Automotive. These proposed investments would help the state government to cross Rs 75,000 crore mark, cumulative.
“We already crossed last year’s investment figure of Rs12,000 crore and by end of the present calendar year we can easily cross Rs 20,000 crore,” said a senior official from the state industry department.
The proposals in hand are led by automobile, electronics and heavy engineering. The official noted, that the state already houses top 10 global auto makers and now the focus is on second rung automobile companies. Proposals in the pipeline include Kia Automotive Group and a Japanese second rung automobile company, he said, while refusing to disclose the name.
The official has confirmed Kia Motors, the second-largest carmaker of South Korea, is talking to the state government for setting up a manufacturing plant. It may be noted, Hyundai Motor Company, which already has a manufacturing unit in the state, holds about 35 per cent stake in Kia Motors.
According to reports, Kia Motors is planning a manufacturing unit to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, starting 2012. According to industry experts, a plant of this size would cost around Rs4,500 crore.
The official further said, till January 2010 the state had signed 37 projects worth Rs46,091 crore, which would create employment to over 220,000 people.
On August 3, the state government signed three more MoUs worth Rs13,000 crore. These include MoUs with Indian Oil Corporation for a liquified gas terminal and an LNG-based power plant for an investment of around Rs10,000 crore.
On the same day, two more MoUs were signed. One with JK Tyres for a greenfield facility at Sriperumbudur for an investment of Rs1,500 crore and another one with Videocon for an LCD Plasma TV manufacturing unit for an investment of Rs1,500 crore.
Presently, we have projects worth Rs8,000 crore on hand and the agreements are expected to be signed anytime now. Besides, we expect an additional investment of Rs7,000 crore with in the next six months, taking the investment number to over Rs75,000 crore, said the official.
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