The Tamil Nadu government is planning to introduce a business facilitation Bill next month that will be backed by a legislation to put the state on the investment map again. The state has slipped from the 12th to the 18th spot this year in ease of doing business rankings, released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) last week.
The state government said of the 50 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during the 2015 Global Investors Meet, 43 projects were under various stages of implementation. But, of the committed Rs 1 lakh crore, only Rs 30,000 crore had been realised. During the meet, Tamil Nadu had signed 98 MoUs worth about Rs 2.42 lakh crore.
Speaking at the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 107th annual general meeting, Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, executive vice-chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau, said of the total 98 MoUs signed, around 50 worth — Rs 1 lakh crore — come under industry department. Of these, 43 projects, worth about Rs 30,000 crore, were under implementation. And, 10 projects were being inaugurated while foundation stones of seven had been laid. She said seven projects hadn't started due to internal issues and the government was trying to start them soon. Some projects related to energy and petroleum projects, which are high-ticket investments, had not taken off because of the drop in pricing, and companies had internal and financial issues, she said.