India Unlocked Episode 6: Trade and Investment Opportunities in Tamil Nadu
After a year of exploring different Indian states, the India Unlocked state-by-state event series closes out 2026 with its final episode on Tamil Nadu, India’s second-largest state economy, also known as “India’s Detroit.” Join us again for an evening of valuable business insights, on-the-ground experiences, drinks and authentic Tamil Nadu snacks, and networking to help pave your way into Tamil Nadu! Free to attend
India Unlocked is an event series designed to address the gap identified by a survey conducted earlier this year by the Auckland Business Chamber, Deloitte and the Consulate General of India in Auckland: understanding India’s individual states remains one of the biggest barriers to doing business successfully. Over the past year, five events have been dedicated to helping New Zealand businesses better understand where the opportunities are, what makes each state unique, and how to engage successfully.
Tamil Nadu is India’s second-largest state economy, worth roughly US$425 billion in 2026-27, and has posted two straight years of double-digit growth. It has more factories than any other state and the country’s largest manufacturing workforce, built on a reputation as India’s “Detroit” for automotive and its top spot in electronics exports: Foxconn alone employs around 40,000 workers at its Chennai iPhone campus. Add Tiruppur’s knitwear cluster, which drives over a third of India’s textile exports, and a coastline carrying 15% of India’s port capacity, and the opportunities span far beyond the factory floor. Worth noting for context: Qualcomm, Tata Electronics and Hyundai all signed investment deals in the same week at Tamil Nadu’s 2024 summit, committing to nearly 58,000 new jobs between them — a sign of how concentrated the state’s push into electronics and auto manufacturing has become.
Hear directly from a panel including India’s Consul General in Auckland and Auckland-based leaders with firsthand experience in Tamil Nadu, on the state’s business environment, key industries and practical advice for New Zealand businesses looking to expand there.
