Hyundai, Cisco entry accelerates TN growth

CHENNAI: In a major boost to Tamil Nadu’s efforts to attract foreign investments, Hyundai Motors would sign an agreement with the Industries Department on Thursday to pump in Rs 24,000 crore to expand electric vehicle manufacturing and modernise its existing plant to increase production.

Meanwhile, the chairman and chief executive officer of US-based network gear giant Cisco announced manufacturing plans for Tamil Nadu. Though the quantum of investment has not been revealed yet, the official said the company was targeting more than USD 1 billion in exports and domestic production.

These investments are coming at a time when Chief Minister MK Stalin and the government is hard-selling Tamil Nadu as an ideal destination for investment. A Global Investors Meet (GIM) has been scheduled for January 2024, to attract investors for which the chief minister is going to Japan and Singapore.

On Thursday, automobile major Hyundai Motor India will ink four MoUs with the government in the presence of Chief Minister Stalin, under which it would invest a cumulative Rs 23,900 crores over a period of 10 years.

Sources in the Industries Department told DT Next that the company has also expressed interest to sign an agreement during the investors meet to bring in around Rs 5,000 crore.

Announcing its plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu while speaking to the media in Delhi on Wednesday, Cisco chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins said the company was aiming to get the products off the line in about 12 months.

“We are starting with two of our highest volume products, one of our switches and one of our routers that are widely used in India,” said Robbins, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several ministers to discuss Cisco’s plan to start manufacturing in India.

The developments come two days after Mitsubishi signed an MoU to invest Rs 1,891 crore to set up an air conditioner manufacturing plant in Tiruvallur.