Telangana loses Corning’s Rs 1,000 crore Gorilla glass project to Tamil Nadu

HYDERABAD: Nearly five months after former Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao announced Corning would be setting up its Gorilla glass manufacturing facility in Telangana, the American specialty glass manufacturer inked a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government for the 1,000 crore project on Tuesday.

The 1,003 crore project is being set up by Bharat Innovative Glass Technologies Private Limited (BIG TECH), a joint venture between Corning International Corporation and its Indian partner Optiemus Infracon.

The plant, which will manufacture cover glass for smartphones, tablets and laptops and has a potential to create 840 jobs, will come up at SIPCOT Pillaipakkam in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu.

However, when contacted, top Telangana officials told TOI that a meeting with Corning officials is on the cards.

“They are meeting us tomorrow. We will get some clarity only tomorrow (on their proposed investment) after meeting them,” Telangana industries secretary Jayesh Ranjan said.

Earlier, Telangana government officials had said that Corning had assured them that a team from the company would visit the state in January.

Telangana’s new industries minister D Sridhar Babu too had asserted last month, amid strong buzz that Telangana was set to lose the project to Tamil Nadu, that the state government would go all out to retain the investment.