Tamil Nadu govt inks pact with Microchip, Nokia, PayPal during CM Stalin's visit to San Francisco

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government signed agreements with several potential investors, including Microchip, Nokia and PayPal, during Chief Minister M K Stalin's trip to the USA to attract investments to the state.

Guidance TN signed a MoU in the presence of the chief minister and Industries Minister, T R B Rajaa, with Microchip, 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.

"In the presence of Honourable @CMOTamilNadu Thiru. @MKStalin and Honourable Minister for Industries Dr. @TRBRajaa, @Guidance_TN signed an MoU with Nokia, represented by Mr. Nishant Batra and Ms. 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 ₹450 crore generating 100 jobs," Rajaa said in a post on 'X'.

Stalin, who is leading a high-level official delegation to the USA, as part of an ambitious goal to transform the state into a USD one trillion economy by 2030, participated in a meeting with potential investors in San Francisco on Thursday.

MoUs with Applied Materials, 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 and Ohmium, represented by Arne Ballantine and Chockalingam Karuppaiah, for a manufacturing facility of components for electrolyser manufacturing and hydrogen solutions systems, to be set up at Chengalpattu, at a cost of Rs 400 crore generating 500 jobs were signed.

Also agreements were signed with GeakMinds, represented by Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, for an IT & Analytics Services Centre to be set up at Chennai, generating 500 jobs and with Infinx, 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.

The government also inked pact with Yield Engineering Systems, 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 and with 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, the Industries Minister said in a series of posts.

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.