Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Industries Department has rejected the Opposition’s claims that the state “lost” three Hyundai-Kia auto-component suppliers to Andhra Pradesh, describing the narrative as a distortion of basic industrial economics and accusing critics of selective political outrage.
After three auto-component suppliers—Hwashin, Seoyon and Iwamet—signed MoUs with Andhra Pradesh for projects worth a combined Rs 1,614 crore in Anantapur that are expected to create about 1,418 jobs, the Tamil Nadu government was criticised by opposition leaders for neglecting the economic growth of the state.
Officials from the Department of Industries said the investments were not for Tamil Nadu to begin with and they did try to convince the companies. They added that though the government tries to bring in all possible investment to the state, 100 percent of all investments coming to India cannot be brought to Tamil Nadu.
The Department of Industries headed by Minister S. Keerthana, in a communication, said that component suppliers locate close to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) they serve.
“This is standard industry practice across every major auto cluster globally. The recent investments in Anantapur follow an anchor manufacturer’s decision to expand capacity there, and that the anchor plant established operations long before the current government took office. Kia set up in Anantapur long back, Opposition should answer why Kia went to AP instead of Tamil Nadu,” the department stated.
Explaining that suppliers follow their primary customers, the department said that when an OEM expands in a specific geography, its Tier-1 and Tier-2 vendors set up localised units to maintain just-in-time delivery. Two out of the three firms are already operating in Anantapur, this was an expansion following expansion of the OEM, the statement explained.
The department argued that framing this as a loss was misleading. “To frame a natural, supply chain-driven vendor expansion as a ‘loss’ for Tamil Nadu is either a deliberate distortion of economic reality or a sign of profound ignorance of how industrial clusters operate.”
The department also stressed that Tamil Nadu remains India’s undisputed automotive capital, anchored by a deep, mature ecosystem across Chennai, Sriperumbudur, Hosur, and Coimbatore.
“While detractors hyperventilate over a single vendor movement, they conveniently ignore the massive influx of global giants choosing Tamil Nadu as their home. Andhra Pradesh tried aggressively to court prominent Kia suppliers, but these companies chose Tamil Nadu instead. Major Kia-linked suppliers, including Motive Link, Inzi Controls, Woo-young, and DYC1 recently solidified their trust in our state by signing MoUs at the Vettri Conclave,” the department stated.
The officials also stated that long-standing Hyundai suppliers continue to expand in the state as Hwashin and Seoyon continue to operate successfully along with the Hyundai plant, expanding their footprint year after year. The industries department also accused the opposition DMK of double standards, listing that the DMK lost the Rs 9,500-crore Amara Raja project earlier, but it was conveniently labeled “routine corporate diversification”.
“When Hwaseung, which would have created thousands of jobs in the non-leather footwear sector, looked elsewhere, it was brushed aside as a ‘calculated fiscal boundary decision’. When Foxconn’s Rs 15,000-crore expansion project hit turbulence, the excuse was that the ‘media took discussions out of context’. When semiconductor projects went to other states, it was blamed squarely on the ‘Central government favouring its preferred states’. Even when Royal Enfield, a brand born and bred in Tamil Nadu stepped toward Andhra Pradesh, it was dismissed as ‘routine diversification’,” the statement from the department said.
They added, “The moment an auto-component supplier sets up a standard facility extension to serve an adjacent OEM, the Opposition drops all objectivity and shrieks ‘government failure’! This blatant double standard exposes an agenda driven entirely by petty politics rather than economic truth. The people saying don’t politicise industry are the first ones to do it.”
Stating that Tamil Nadu is a preferred destination for industries due to a highly skilled technical workforce, robust port and logistics infrastructure, reliable and quality power supply, and a stable, predictable policy environment, the companies invest and stay in Tamil Nadu.
The industries department also detailed a series of Ease of Doing Business reforms undertaken since May 2026 under various departments. Under the Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce Department, all pre-establishment and pre-operation approvals submitted via the Single Window Portal are now bound by a strict 21-day service guarantee under the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act. The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT) has reduced land allotment timelines to 21 days and mandated complete online transparency on allotment details.
The department had also announced that the requirement for notarised documents and affidavits has been replaced with self-attestation, eliminating procedural delays. Small-scale businesses can now commence operations immediately via an acknowledgement certificate, securing statutory clearances within three years.
Talking about ease of doing business, the department said that the Housing and Urban Development Department gave final approval powers for high-rise buildings in the Chennai Metropolitan Area directly to the CMDA committee, eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic layers. Delays in change of land use for dry and wet lands have been slashed by removing NoC requirements from the Agriculture and District Collector’s offices.
The Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department has issued a government order that says trade licence validity has been massively expanded from three years to 10 years, and establishments registered under the Shops and Establishments Act are now entirely exempt from obtaining a separate trade licence.
The Department of Industries officials added that the government remains in active, advanced dialogues with several global and domestic manufacturing giants regarding major upcoming investments, which will be announced in due course.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)