Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has said that the state government will soon sign MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with Japanese comaoneis planning to invest in the state, that has emerged as the leading recipient of Japanese Foreign Direct Investment.

"At present, some large Japanese companies are considering substantial investments in Tamil Nadu. My government will soon sign MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with these companies," she said. She was speaking at an event to inaugurate super-critical steam turbine and generator manufacturing plant of Toshiba.

She said that the state would soon see major Japanese investment mainly in the manufacturing sector, as the state has been a leading State in this sector, due to the steadfast presence of the automobile and its allied components industry. She also said that the auto sector alone attracted 60 per cent of Japanese FDI in Tamil Nadu.

She also expressed confident that Chennai is on it sway to emerge as the world's biggest auto-hub. Jayalalithaa said that Japan is the fifth largest investor in India with FDI inflow of $7.18 billion in more than a decade. This accounted for 4.8 per cent of India's total FDI received in the period.

Chennai has the largest number of Japanese company bases accounting for 20.11 per cent of all Japanese company bases in the country and the city host about 700 Japanese expatriates.