In an attempt to scout for foreign investment, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said he would embark on an official tour of the United Kingdom and Germany in the first week of September.
“I am proceeding on a two-nation tour of Europe to visit Germany and England in September to attract investment. It is in continuation of my official foreign visits for the same purpose undertaken earlier. Last year, the visit to Dubai, Singapore, Japan and Spain had helped bring in Rs 10,000 crore investment with many Multinational companies setting shop here providing 30 lakh jobs, directly and indirectly,” he told the DMK District Secretaries meeting, held at the party headquarters on the arterial Anna Salai in Chennai.
“It is no mere rhetoric, the data released by the Union Government had revealed that Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country to register double-digit economic growth. It was during the government of Kalaignar (late Karunanidhi) 15 years ago that the state recorded this feat. It is heartening that we have achieved it now,” he said.
The DMK government of Stalin had set an ambitious target of making Tamil Nadu a One Trillion Dollar economy by 2030. With elections just eight months away, this could be his last foreign tour in this government.
According to official sources, Stalin, during his UK visit will also address students and academicians at the prestigious Kings College, London (KCL). Renowned academic Christophe Jaffrelot, who is professor of Sociology and an expert on South Asia at KCL, has written extensively on India politics, including the Dravidian movement.
Known for its advancement in engineering and technology besides manufacturing, Germany is billed as a key stop for securing investment in high tech sectors like energy and automobiles. During the trip, expected to last for nearly 7 days, the Chief Minister would hold meetings with the Tamil diaspora as well.
While the Chief Minister boasts of his foreign tours, the opposition has questioned the results of his previous visits. Pattalai Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement, has sought a white paper on the investments from abroad attracted by Stalin’s earlier visits and their fruition.
Earlier, the DMK district secretaries had condemned the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. A resolution adopted at the meeting said “vote theft is a threat to free and fair elections. The mass deletion of 65 lakh voters in Bihar will uproot democracy. The Election Commission is hand in glove with the BJP-led Union Government and is complicit in the electoral malpractices of the BJP, making democracy itself a laughing stock.”