TN govt inks pact with Microchip, Nokia, PayPal in CM Stalin’s visit to US

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government inked pacts with leading industrial companies including Nokia, PayPal, Yield Engineering Systems, Microchip, Infinx, and Applied Materials for a commitment of Rs 900 crore to provide employment to 4,100 people in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, the government said on Friday.

Six companies signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and officials during the investors meeting in San Francisco, an official release here said.

The chief minister, who is leading a high-level official delegation, is currently on a tour to the US till September 14 to attract investments into Tamil Nadu, as part of an ambitious goal to transform the state into a USD one trillion economy by 2030. He left for the US on August 27. He participated in a meeting with potential investors in San Francisco on Thursday.

A MoU was signed with Nokia, represented by Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Nishant Batra and President - Fixed Network Business Group Sandy Motley, for a new Nokia R&D Center, their Largest Fixed Network test bed in the world, for innovations in 10G, 25G, 50G, and 100G PON, Fixed Wireless Access, MDU solutions, to be set up at SIPCOT, Siruseri, Chengalpattu at a cost of Rs 450 crore generating 100 jobs.

The Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics company is one of the Fortune 500 companies.

An agreement with the American multinational financial technology company supporting online money transfers PayPal, represented by Srini Venkatesan and Zi-Yang David Fan, for an Advanced Development Centre focused on AI, to be set up at Chennai, generating 1,000 jobs, was signed on the occasion.

The government also inked pact with Yield Engineering Systems, headquartered in Fremont, California, represented by Ramakanth Alapati and Prabhat Mishra, for a product development & manufacturing facility for semiconductor equipment to be set up at Sulur, Coimbatore, at a cost of Rs 150 crore, generating 300 jobs.

The TN government signed a MoU with Microchip, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, represented by Patrick Johnson and Bruce Weyer, for an R&D Centre in semiconductor technology to be set up at Semmancherry, Chennai, at a cost of Rs 250 crore, generating 1,500 jobs.

Globally, Microchip has many manufacturing facilities in countries like the USA, China, Thailand, South Korea etc. The company is one of the Fortune 500 companies. Microchip has been operating in Chennai since 2012, the release said.

A pact was inked with Infinx healthcare technology company, headquartered in San Jose, California, represented by Radhika Tandon, for a Technology and Global Delivery Centre to be set up at ELCOT Vadapalanji, Madurai, at a cost of Rs 50 crore generating 700 jobs.

Another MoU was signed with Applied Materials, world's number one semiconductor and display equipment company, represented by Prabu Raja and Satheesh Kuppurao, for an Advanced AI-Enabled Technology Development Centre for Semiconductor Manufacturing & Equipment to be set up at Taramani, Chennai, generating 500 jobs.

The firm is based in Santa, California, and operates from Clara city as its corporate headquarters.

Industries Minister T R B Rajaa, and senior government officials were present during the signing of the agreements.

The chief minister would address the Tamil community on August 31, and hold discussions with representatives from the US-based companies at Chicago on September 2, and urge them to invest in Tamil Nadu.

During his trip, he would meet the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. He will return to Chennai on September 14.