Members of the AMCHAM NEB, Consul General Robert Burgess, Mr. Robert Kemp, U.S. Embassy along with Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM and Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy Director General of AMCHAM, had a meeting with the Minister for Industry Mr. MC Sampath and several secretaries of the government of Tamil Nadu on 18th August. In his opening remarks, Mr. Atulya Misra, Industries Secretary, welcomed the AMCHAM delegation and appreciated the fact that Ford India was a trend setter by establishing a car manufacturing plant near Chennai, which led to several MNC’s making Chennai their base for the automobile and auto component sector.

This was followed by a presentation made by Ms. Shilpa P. Satish, Executive Vice Chairperson of the TN Industrial Guidance Bureau. The presentation detailed the yet to be announced “Business Facilitation Act” and the many strengths of the state which make it an attractive investment destination. During the presentation Ms. Shilpa mentioned that Tamil Nadu ranks third in the country in investment decisions with over 50% of the population living in urban areas with the state having a continuous supply of talent which is added to the pool each year. Ms. Shilpa added that the single window system in Tamil Nadu Industries Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau has been strengthened and now provides for online approvals to investors. She said that the state has a large land bank in several places identified for industrial development and is readily available.

Mr. B. Elangovan, the official responsible for development of the aerospace park made a presentation detailing the various facets of the park and said that the park would be ready and available for occupation in the next 18 months.

In response, the AMCHAM delegation said that American companies are happy to stay invested in the state especially now that the power situation has turned favourable. Mr. Ramkumar, Chairman – Tamil Nadu Chapter, AMCHAM, commented that the state has the unique distinction where manufacturing companies have co-located their R&D, design and business processing units in the state to drive innovation. He further said that the state could consider inducting professionals from industry into the academic councils of universities to strengthen the education system and raise the bar as far as the students graduating from these centres of excellence. Mr. Ramkumar highlighted the fact that the government needs to curb the fringe elements who are creeping into the otherwise peaceful labour situation in the state.

The meeting concluded with Mr. Atulya Misra thanking American companies for making Tamil Nadu their home for business and said that a state delegation is travelling to the United States to meet with U.S. companies to invest in the aerospace park.