The CII Partnership Summit, where several MNCs and domestic investors signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government, created a political storm in neighboring Tamil Nadu. The BJP and the ruling DMK got into a verbal spat on social media over a South Korean company announcing its plans to invest in AP The same firm was earlier in talks with the Tamil Nadu government to invest there.
South Korean global conglomerate Hwaseung has proposed a $150 million investment to manufacture non-leather shoes in AP The firm had in August signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government to set up its plant there, but has decided to shift its base to Kuppam, the home constituency of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
A day after the MoU was signed, BJP TN unit vice president K. Annamalai posted on X: “While TN CM Thiru @mkstalin avl and his Industries Minister are fast asleep, the investments they proudly announced are moving to neighboring states. TN Industries Minister announced that South Korea’s Hwaseung has committed to set up cro1 investment, to20₂ a large-scale non-leather footwear plant that will create 20,000 direct jobs.”
Mr. Annamalai further said that in less than three months, Hwaseung has decided to transfer this investment to Andhra Pradesh. “At a time when other states are rushing to attract global manufacturing, Tamil Nadu is losing ground due to complacency and administrative apathy. From a land of opportunity, the DMK has transformed TN into a land of wasted opportunities,” he said.
Responding to Mr. Annamalai, Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said that investment promotion is not an everyday game. “It’s about balancing the need of the state for certain industries, jobs that will be created, incentives based on the area where investment is anchored, etc. Our Chief Minister Thiru @mkstalin and his aim for distributed growth is where our heart lies. So incentives and investment grounding heavily depends on where one is willing to set up business,” he further wrote.
Mr. Rajaa further said that across India and abroad, governments are playing to their strengths and the needs of the people. While some governments enjoy the luxury of vast tracts of arid land, others have high-value land that cannot be randomly given away without measuring the outcome of the incentives against the value of the jobs created. “Also, at no point will we join a race to the bottom in terms of offering unrealistic packages. TN is targeting the specific value of #JobsForTN in different areas based on the availability of different skill types of our jobs,” he said.
However, Mr. Rajaa expressed optimism that more investment would come to TN. “While some opposition members want to belittle the hard working government and they are officers who put the interest of Tamil Nadu first and insult the hard working people of the state, we have decided to shut their poisonous mouths by announcing more investments. Coming soon,” he said using the hashtag #InvestInTN.
Karnataka also sparked similar political excitement when Google announced the setting up of an AI data center in Visakhapatam, with opposition parties criticizing the Congress government there for losing out to Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, a political storm erupted in Karnataka when IT Minister Nara Lokesh invited the aerospace industry to the state after the Karnataka government reverted to land allocation following protests by farmers there.
Published – 15 Nov 2025 19:52 IST
