Tamil Nadu shrugs off Andhra Pradesh's investor pitch in Coimbatore

CHENNAI:

Tamil Nadu shrugged off Andhra Pradesh's upcoming investment outreach event in Coimbatore on August 12, with senior government sources casting the roadshow as routine inter-state competition rather than a threat. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is hosting an Andhra Pradesh Partnership Summit Roadshow, aimed at drawing regional industrial investment to the neighbouring state.

Officials also denied any directive discouraging companies from attending the Andhra event, and accused the opposition and media reports of turning every issue into a negative story about Tamil Nadu. "Other states are free to compete for investment," Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce Department official sources said. "Tamil Nadu is confident enough in its strengths to compete and focused enough on delivery to win."

Officials noted Andhra Pradesh had run similar campaigns in Chennai before, in 2018 and again in 2023 ahead of its Global Investors Summit in Visakhapatnam, without comparable controversy. "Investors ultimately decide where to locate based on talent, infrastructure, logistics, supply chains, policy stability and ease of doing business," an industries department official said.