Chennai: Members of AIADMK and DMK on Tuesday were engaged in a heated exchange over closure of handset manufacturer Nokia and its vendor Foxconn at Sriperumbudur with both parties blaming each other for the shutdown of industries.
When DMK member T.M. Anbarasan, a former labour minister, raised the issue of closure of Nokia and Foxconn plants, Electricity minister P. Thangamani blamed DMK which was part of Congress-led UPA government for the closure. “Why did you not oppose the retrospective tax imposition that led to the closure of Nokia? You (DMK) were part of UPA government then,” he told the Assembly intervening in the debate on the demands for grants for Labour and employment and Handlooms and textiles departments.
Industries minister M.C. Sampath reiterated that the state government was committed to Foxconn resuming operations and recalled state officials meeting company’s representatives in Taiwan recently in this regard.
It all started when Labour minister Nilofer Kafeel said 17 industries were closed during DMK regime in 2006-11 due to financial constraints. She said this in reply to Anbarasan’s claim that the previous DMK government had brought over '1 lakh crore foreign direct investment and helped creation of job opportunities for one lakh persons. The DMK legislator listed out various companies that started its operation during his party's rule.
Sampath refuted the MLA's claim stating that the State received FDI to the tune of only '23,288 crore between 2006 and 2011 while the subsequent AIADMK government attracted FDI to the tune of '85,000 crore in 2011-16.
IT minister M. Manikandan said all leading IT companies, including TCS, Infosys and HCL had entered the state only during the AIADMK rule between 2001 and 2006.
To Alandur MLA's query on why Ford industries set up another manufacturing unit in Gujarat, Thangamani clarified the car manufacturer had only opened an assembly unit in Gujarat to meet the growing demand from Northern states.
“Ford chairman has written a letter to Chief Minister. He had clearly stated that Tamil Nadu is a favoured destination for investment. To cut down on the transportation charges, the company had opened its assembly unit in Gujarat. Infact, the car manufacturer has set up its research and development center in Chennai first outside US,” he noted. But frequent interruption by AIADMK ministers during Anbarasan's speech did not go down well with opposition benches.
