CM Stalin to visit UK and Germany to woo investors to Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will visit the UK and Germany later this month or in early September to attract fresh investments to the state.

Sources said the program will feature meetings with potential investors, interactions with the Tamil diaspora, and other official events. He is also expected to deliver a lecture at King’s College London (KCL), although the final schedule is yet to be confirmed. KCL is home to noted scholar Christophe Jaffrelot, the Avantha Chair and Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King’s India Institute, known for his extensive research on Indian politics, particularly Dravidian parties.

The Avantha Chair is an academic position created through a £3.5 million endowment from the Avantha Group. It is jointly held by Professors Niraja Gopal Jayal and Jaffrelot, and is central to the Institute’s mission of serving as a leading global hub for the study of contemporary India.

Officials said the details of the Chief Minister’s itinerary are still being finalized. The trip, expected to last between seven and ten days, will be his fifth foreign tour since taking office. With Assembly elections just eight months away, it is likely to be his last overseas visit this term.

Since assuming office, Stalin has undertaken high-profile foreign trips to boost Tamil Nadu’s investment potential. His March 2022 visit to the UAE resulted in MoUs worth Rs 6,100 crore, while his May 2023 tour of Singapore and Japan brought in Rs 1,342 crore in commitments and around 2,000 jobs. In early 2024, he visited Spain, securing MoUs worth Rs 3,440 crore.

His most recent trip, to the US in August-September 2024, included meetings with executives from tech majors such as Google and Apple, leading to MoUs worth Rs 7,616 crore with the potential to generate 11,516 jobs, according to the state government.

Stalin has maintained that these foreign visits are part of his broader strategy to make Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion economy by 2030. The upcoming European tour is expected to further this goal by strengthening global ties and showcasing the state’s economic strengths to business and academic leaders.