The Tamil Nadu government set a 21-day deadline for industrial clearances, with deemed approval if officials delay the process. This move aims to boost the state economy. The new commission also pushed for faster land allotments and allowed industries to handle their own power connections to improve business ease.
The Tamil Nadu government has set a 21-day deadline for industrial clearances, with deemed approval for applications delayed beyond the stipulated period and penalties for non-compliance, as part of its push to become a $1.5 trillion economy by 2036.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the newly constituted Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Commission (TNIPC), chaired by Chief Secretary M Saikumar, at the Secretariat.
According to a press release issued on Saturday, the 20-member commission was constituted under Section 16-A of the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation (Amendment) Act, 2026.
The commission comprises secretaries of key departments, such as Finance, IT, MSME, Energy, Revenue and Labour, and senior representatives of three industry bodies -- the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
The commission will review investment projects involving more than ₹200 crore or generating over 5,000 jobs.
Reviewing the state's industrial progress, the Chief Secretary noted that Tamil Nadu had signed 112 Memoranda of Understanding worth over ₹1.14 lakh crore since May 2026, with the projects expected to generate employment for 1,42,271 people.
Of these, 83 projects have reached the land-allotment stage or progressed beyond it, the release said.
Further, of the 21,753 applications received through Guidance Tamil Nadu's single-window portal, 19,323 have been resolved.
Since May 2026, the state has introduced more than 25 reforms across 11 departments to improve the ease of doing business.
The measures range from waiving the requirement for No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Agriculture Department and District Collectors for converting dry and wet lands for industrial use to extending the validity of municipal trade licences from three to 10 years and ensuring industrial plot allotments to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises within 30 days.
Under its incentive package, the state has disbursed subsidies worth ₹2,000 crore over the past six months, while an additional ₹1,600 crore has been sought to support new projects.
The commission also reviewed several upcoming infrastructure projects, including TN Knowledge City, Arivagam AI City, the Coimbatore Digital Fintech Hub, the Tiruchirappalli Multimodal Logistics Hub, TIDEL Neo parks and a proposed Global Capability Centre (GCC) corridor.
Among its key directives, the TNIPC asked Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL) to allow industries to execute High Tension (HT) and Extra High Tension (EHT) power connections on their own and procure equipment independently for large projects.
It directed the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT), Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (ELCOT) to identify and allot unused land parcels to investors and assess the power and water requirements of proposed projects for the next 10 years.
The state has decided to bring tourism projects on a par with industrial ventures under the single-window clearance system and organise district-level export conclaves to increase merchandise exports from $59 billion to $72 billion, the release added.