ANN/THE STRAIT TIMES – Singaporean companies are set to invest SGD5 billion in various sectors, encompassing infrastructure, technology, sustainability and data centres, as part of an expansion strategy to strengthen Singapore’s footprint in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The announcement was issued yesterday during the inaugural day of the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet held in Chennai, the state’s capital.
A media release by Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the investments include USD500 million by CapitaLand Investment in business parks, logistics and warehouses and a data centre.
CapitaLand Investment already has a presence in more than 20 tech and business parks, industrial, logistics, lodging, data centre and coworking assets in seven Indian cities, including Chennai.
Separately, Lionsbot, which designs and manufactures automated industrial-scale cleaning robots, will partner top universities in Tamil Nadu to set up training laboratories and design hardware and software courses.
Singapore firms are also generating employment in Tamil Nadu state, with Crayon Data aiming to create 150 direct and 350 supporting jobs within the next three years. Crayon Data provides artificial intelligence (AI)-led solutions in banking, fintech and travel industries. The company has a global development centre in Chennai and a workforce of 150 employees.
“The latest pipeline of collaborative initiatives and associated investments shows that Singapore companies are strategically building the breadth and depth of their engagement in Tamil Nadu,” said Tan Soon Kim, deputy chief executive officer of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), an agency under MTI. “This is testament to the strong opportunities and investor-friendly policies of the state.”
Memorandums of understanding were signed between the Singapore companies and GuidanceTN, the investment promotion agency of the Tamil Nadu government. The investments by the Singapore firms will be implemented over several years MTI noted that Tamil Nadu is “often the first port of call for Singapore companies looking at South India, given the cultural and historical familiarity between both states”.
The state, with a population of 72 million, is the second-largest contributor to India’s gross domestic product, behind Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai.
