Andhra to hold investor meets in key Tamil Nadu cities to woo companies

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh is holding investor meetings in Tamil Nadu for the first time, seeking to attract companies in the textiles, manufacturing and automotive sectors. The move assumes significance especially since the two states have traditionally stayed clear of each other's investment turf, avoiding an open contest for companies and capital.

The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (EDB), the state's primary investment promotion agency, will hold "roadshows" in Chennai on Tuesday, followed by another in Coimbatore the next day.

The decision to pitch directly to Tamil Nadu-based industry marks a new, more aggressive phase in the competition between the two southern states for investment. Tamil Nadu's investment agency, Guidance, has not held any investor meeting in Andhra Pradesh so far.


In Coimbatore, the EDB is eyeing the flourishing textile industry. Tamil Nadu accounts for a third of India's textile and apparel units. The decision to pitch Andhra Pradesh as a potential investment destination comes within a week of the state cabinet approving a new textile policy.

The two states have been separately pitching vigorously for investments. The competition has intensified since N Chandrababu Naidu came to power in 2024. Andhra Pradesh has re-energised the EDB. Right after C Joseph Vijay's TVK came to power in Tamil Nadu, the EDB has actively sought to hire Guidance executives. According to people familiar with the matter, about seven executives have resigned from Tamil Nadu's investment agency and have got offers from the EDB. "They are likely to join the EDB soon," said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

Last year, Andhra Pradesh succeeded in attracting Hwaseung, a South Korean shoe maker which had planned a Rs 1,720 crore project in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, to Kuppam, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's constituency. Besides, Royal Enfield, the world's oldest motorcycle brand, has decided to expand outside Tamil Nadu for the first time since its inception in 1901 and set up a manufacturing unit at Satyavedu in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati district.