Across southern India, the contest for large industrial investments has become more dynamic than ever, and this change is reflected clearly in the changing trajectories of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Both states have long competed for manufacturing leadership, each with distinct strengths and strategies. The episode involving Hwaseung Footwear shows how tight and quickly shifting this competition has become.
In August, discussions around the company’s investment were linked to Tuticorin, signalling confidence in Tamil Nadu’s established industrial base. Yet a few months later, the project finally went to Andhra Pradesh’s Kuppam, underscoring how investment investment decisions often follow the state that moves most decisively.
In case after case, the direction of investment tells its own story. The Hwaseung episode is only one instance. Google’s major data infrastructure project chose Visakhapatnam instead of Chennai. Earlier, Tamil Nadu announced sizeable commitments from Foxconn, only for the company to clarify that no final agreement had been reached.
Several manufacturing proposals that once would have naturally gravitated towards districts like Krishnagiri, Hosur, or Coimbatore have either stalled or shifted to neighbouring states. Viewed together, these episodes suggest a gradual weakening of the strong industrial magnetism Tamil Nadu once commanded.
Amid this steady drift of new investments, the spotlight now falls on how Tamil Nadu safeguards and strengthens the industries it already has. The Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi remains the most significant example of an opportunity waiting to be reclaimed. Before its closure in 2018, the plant supported thousands of livelihoods, powered a wide network of downstream industries, and contributed meaningfully to the regional economy.
The concerns raised by local communities were serious and addressing them was essential. But leaving a major industrial facility idle for years has had ripple effects—India shifted from being a net exporter of copper to an importer, weakened local economies, and many skilled workers saw their career paths disrupted.
A green restart of Sterlite, built on strengthened environmental safeguards, upgraded technology, and transparent community oversight, offers a chance to change the narrative. It could again be one of the state’s most powerful economic engines. The redesigned model blends primary smelting with large-scale recycling, sharply cutting waste, lowering emissions, and reducing the plant’s overall carbon footprint.
Further, with AI-driven monitoring and advanced automation, the plant promises far stricter environmental compliance than before. The restart places the community at the core, with local oversight and dedicated support for inclusive development in Thoothukudi. This is not only in states’s interest but aligns with India's broader goals of sustainable industrialization.
For Tamil Nadu, supporting such a transformation would send a clear signal: that the state values industry, intends to preserve key economic assets, and is ready to match its historic strengths with contemporary expectations of transparency and responsibility.
At a time when new investments are increasingly drifting elsewhere, reviving and strengthening existing industrial capacities may be one of Tamil Nadu’s most effective strategies. A responsible green restart of the Sterlite Copper plant would not just restore jobs and supply chains; it would reassure investors that the state is committed to stability, continuity, and long-term partnership.
Tamil Nadu has the talent, infrastructure, and legacy to remain an industrial powerhouse. What it needs now is the confidence to act decisively and the willingness to protect the engines that have powered its growth for decades.
Tamil Nadu stands at an inflection point. It can continue to watch promising investments flow elsewhere, or it can revive and modernise the assets that once made it an industrial powerhouse. A cleaner, community-driven Sterlite Copper plant would not only restore a vital economic engine but also send a clear message across the investment landscape: that Tamil Nadu is prepared to rebuild, reinvent, and lead again.
By Amartya Sinha
Author’s Bio: The author is a Delhi NCR-based journalist. He writes on national security, infrastructure and technology.
