Amid the Tamil Nadu government’s push to attract more global capability centres (GCCs) to the state, Switzerland-based Chubb Group, the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, and German wind turbine major Nordex Group on Thursday signed memoranda of understanding with the state government to set up GCCs and research and development (R&D) centres in Chennai.
Nordex is among the world’s five largest wind turbine manufacturers. An agreement was also signed in the higher education sector with the University of Western Australia (UWA), one of Australia’s leading research universities. It will establish its India campus in Chennai across approximately 50,000 square feet in Velachery, with an investment of Rs 125 crore, generating more than 200 direct and indirect jobs. This will be the first international university campus to be set up in Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1911, the university is ranked 77th in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
MotiveLink, a leading South Korean auto-components manufacturer, signed an MoU to set up a manufacturing facility at the SIPCOT Pillaipakkam Industrial Park in Kancheepuram district, with an investment of Rs 300 crore. This is expected to create 1,500 jobs. Cumulatively, the investments are expected to create 2,920 direct and indirect jobs in the state.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay said these investments would fulfil the aspirations of Tamil Nadu’s youth and play a key role in establishing Tamil Nadu as a global hub for global capability centres, R&D, higher education and advanced manufacturing. He further assured that the Tamil Nadu government would continue to extend all necessary support to facilitate these companies’ investments and ensure that their operations succeeded in the state.
Chubb of Switzerland and Nordex of Germany are setting up their global capability centres and R&D centres in Chennai for the first time in Tamil Nadu. Chubb’s centre is expected to create 220 jobs, while Nordex’s centre is expected to create 1,000 jobs. Together, these two investments will generate 1,220 high-quality jobs. These investments will further strengthen Chennai’s position as a key international hub for high-value global capability centres and research activities.
Chubb Business Services India is already the largest engineering centre in Chubb’s global network, with teams currently based in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar.
Compared with other states, Tamil Nadu’s advantage for GCCs is its multi-city cluster approach, spread across Chennai, with over 350 GCCs; Coimbatore, with over 80; and two developing hubs in Madurai and Trichy. According to a report by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, the state may create over 1.5 million GCC jobs by 2030. Chennai already hosts GCCs of several large entities and is set to add 12-13 million square feet of premium office space by 2026, contributing to over 10 per cent of India’s overall GCC presence.
The event was attended by Industries Minister S Keerthana; Chief Secretary M Saikumar; Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce, N Vijayakumar; and Guidance Tamil Nadu Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Deepak Jacob.
