BY INVITATIONTamil Nadu has long been one of India’s economic paradoxes. It combines high levels of industrialisation with expansive welfare commitments, robust manufacturing with social development, and fiscal stress with investor enthusiasm. The new govt’s challenge is not to create growth from scratch, but to accelerate an already-running growth machine without letting the gears of public finance grind themselves down.A survey of 65 CFOs conducted by KPMG, knowledge partner to the CFO Board, and supplemented by interviews and discussions with several other finance leaders in TN, offers a glimpse into what businesses want. The findings are encouraging. Capital availability is not the central constraint: 92% said access to growth capital was not a barrier, more than three-fourths expected fresh capital expenditure in TN, and two-thirds foresaw inorganic growth opportunities. The obstacle is not a lack of investor appetite, but the quality and speed of execution.The survey finds that only 39% of respondents rate the state’s ease of doing business as better than that of competing states. The report benchmarks the state against the faster approval frameworks of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while recognising TN’s relatively stable and dependable business environment. Their recommendation is straightforward: simplify approvals, expand self-certification, adopt deemed approvals after specified timelines, and provide dedicated relationship managers for major investments. Although the recent state budget has struck the right note with Guidance 3.0, Single Window Portal 3.0 and AI-enabled approval systems, the larger challenge is administrative and cultural. Businesses will change their assessment only when they consistently experience faster, more predictable approvals on the ground.The survey’s second message is equally striking: 85% of CFOs identified attracting and retaining talent as a key priority. This suggests that TN’s competitiveness over the next decade will depend as much on liveability as on industrial policy. Better housing, transport, healthcare, schools and urban amenities could prove as important as industrial parks and incentives.This is particularly relevant for Chennai. The city already has strong educational institutions and a large industrial ecosystem. Yet talent competition is becoming both national and global. For internationally mobile professionals, Chennai increasingly competes not only with Bengaluru and Hyderabad, but also with global business destinations. This raises the premium on housing, mobility, urban amenities, and cosmopolitan appeal.Infrastructure is the third recurring theme. CFOs highlighted connectivity, logistics, airports, public transport and digital infrastructure as critical to growth, with faster metro projects, better transport integration, stronger industrial-cluster logistics and Chennai airport upgrades among key priorities. The broader message is clear: Chennai and other key cities must become more convenient, liveable and cosmopolitan to attract more global capability centres, technology firms and multinational investment.Perhaps the most interesting finding concerns artificial intelligence. Corporate leaders are not chasing futuristic possibilities. They want AI to improve productivity, manufacturing efficiency, customer experience and back-office automation. This pragmatic approach aligns well with the state’s industrial strengths and offers a path to higher productivity without abandoning the state’s manufacturing foundation.The broad message emerging from the report is refreshingly practical. Tamil Nadu does not need a dramatic reinvention. It already has the ingredients for success: an economy projected to exceed ₹40 lakh crore in 2026–27, a deep industrial base, strong human capital and significant investor interest. What it needs is relentless execution: faster approvals, stronger infrastructure, greater fiscal discipline, and policies that turn talent into productivity.In economics, growth miracles rarely come from grand announcements. They come from doing ordinary things exceptionally well. Tamil Nadu’s next leap may depend less on setting new ambitions and more on delivering those already articulated.(The author is the office managing partner, Chennai, KPMG in India)
