Minister shifts gears, drives home investment pitch to Foxconn chief

Chennai: It’s industry minister T R B Rajaa’s job to drive investment in the state. On Saturday he took that literally, driving Foxconn chairman Dr Young Liu from Chennai airport to Vallam Vadagal, Sipcot estate near Sriperumbudur, where the govt has built a ₹706 crore housing colony for the company’s employees.
"It was a spontaneous development," said a source, privy to the development.As soon as the chairman arrived in his private jet and entered the airport lobby, the minister received him with a bouquet. The two then moved to the lounge. They got engrossed in conversation and aides had to remind them that they were getting late for the function, which was at least an hour’s drive away from the airport.
The two reluctantly got up to go to their separate cars. "That's when the minister offered to drive the Foxconn chairman to the venue and the latter readily accepted it. The long drive [in the minister’s Range Rover] turned out to be a one-hour pitch about Tamil Nadu, its strengths and capabilities, emerging technologies including AI,” said the source.
So can Tamil Nadu expect bigger investment, including a semi-conductor plant? "We cannot disclose anything specific at the moment. But we can safely look forward to some big ticket announcement from Foxconn for TN," the source added.