Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister TRB Rajaa has come under sharp scrutiny after his response to the high-profile exit of South Korean sports-shoe manufacturer Hwaseung – a $150-million, 20,000-jobs project that has now shifted from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh’s Kuppam.
As reported in Economic Times, Hwaseung, a key global supplier to Adidas, had signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in August to set up its first India plant in Tirunelveli. The firm has now abandoned that plan and moved its investment to Andhra Pradesh, citing skilled manpower availability, smoother land access, and long-term alignment with its expansion requirements.
Instead of addressing what went wrong with Tamil Nadu’s investment processes, Minister Rajaa said that the state “would not join a race to the bottom” by matching the aggressive incentive package reportedly offered by Andhra Pradesh – a justification that critics say glosses over deeper issues.
According to senior officials familiar with the negotiations, Andhra Pradesh offered Hwaseung free land and higher resource subsidies. Tamil Nadu was asked to match the package but declined. The company subsequently switched to Kuppam, the constituency of CM N. Chandrababu Naidu, after concluding that Andhra Pradesh provided a better long-term fit.
As reported in The New Indian Express, Rajaa argued that Tamil Nadu would resist participating in “daily competitive games” over incentives and claimed that the state prioritised “high-value jobs” rather than competing aggressively for manufacturing investments. He said land in Tamil Nadu carried “different economic pressures” and could not be handed out casually.
But the minister’s framing has triggered questions about whether the government is deflecting from the actual reasons behind losing a major employment-heavy project. Opposition parties said his stance attempted to shift the narrative instead of accepting that Tamil Nadu was outcompeted on basics such as land facilitation, investment timelines, and responsive negotiations. Business chambers privately pointed out that footwear manufacturing is a labour-intensive sector ideally suited for southern districts, and losing 20,000 potential jobs in a region like Tirunelveli is not a trivial issue to dismiss.
In contrast, Andhra Pradesh’s investment agencies moved swiftly after Hwaseung first approached Invest India. The company said India was chosen over multiple countries due to its young workforce and that Andhra Pradesh edged out Tamil Nadu because it better aligned with its manpower and expansion needs. Hwaseung has already been allotted 100 acres in two Kuppam villages.
Rajaa reiterated that Tamil Nadu remained “the most trustworthy and most industrialised state,” accusing opposition “proxies” of belittling the government’s investment record. However, the criticism has persisted: while Andhra’s proactive pitch secured a flagship export-oriented project, Tamil Nadu’s response appeared defensive, vague, and dismissive of the economic stakes involved.
For now, the departure of a high-volume employer like Hwaseung and the minister’s attempt to frame it as a principled choice has intensified questions about whether Tamil Nadu under the DMK government is losing its edge in a competitive investment landscape.
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