“We are still evaluating the acquisition of the Nokia factory but have not made a firm commitment,” said Shashi Ruia, Chairman of Essar Group. Referring to the closure of the Finnish handset factory near Chennai, he said he was present on the last day when thousands of employees, most of them women, had suddenly lost their jobs. These were semi-skilled workers who could be trained in a couple of weeks to work in high tech industries.

Later, talking to mediapersons, Ruia declined to put a timeframe on when the transaction is likely to be concluded. Whatever issues that need to be addressed were up to Nokia for this deal to go forward, he said.

Asked if they expected any support from the State government, he said none. They have been fully supportive and helpful, he said. Delivering the acceptance speech for the award of Global Indian 2015 by Rotary Club of Madras East, he said investments in manufacturing and infrastructure alone can help generate jobs on the scale India needs and underpin growth of e-commerce and services sector.

“We need to respect entrepreneurs willing to invest” to generate jobs. India has to think on the scale of China in manufacturing to survive. He added that over the next five years, the so-called overcapacity in various sectors will be absorbed and unless investments happen now, India will have to depend on imports.

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