What happened
On 23 Oct 2026 three auto-parts makers that supply Hyundai and Kia (Hwashin, Seoyon and Iwamet) signed MoUs with the Andhra Pradesh government at a CII regional conference in Anantapur: ₹1,614 crore (₹850 cr, ₹514 cr and ₹250 cr) and about 1,418 jobs, two of the plants near Kia's factory in Sri Sathya Sai district and one in Kurnool. Hwashin and Seoyon, the two confirmed Korean firms, have run plants at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu since 2002 and 2000. After The Economic Times called it 'Andhra Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu' on 2 Nov, the DMK and the BJP blamed the TVK government, and the Industries Department replied that suppliers follow carmakers.
Checked against sources
- Hwashin (₹850 cr), Seoyon (₹514.17 cr) and Iwamet (₹250 cr) signed MoUs with Andhra Pradesh on 23 Oct 2026 at the CII Anantapur regional conference: ₹1,614.17 crore and about 1,418 jobs; Hwashin and Seoyon in Sri Sathya Sai district, Iwamet in Kurnool. deccanchronicle.com
- Hwashin Automotive India was incorporated in 2002 at SIPCOT Irungattukottai, Sriperumbudur; Seoyon has run plants at Irungattukottai since 2000, and beside Kia at Penukonda since 2017. seoyoneh.com
- The Economic Times reported it on 2 Nov 2026 as 'Andhra Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu'; DMK president M.K. Stalin then wrote that the investment went to Andhra because of the TVK government's negligence. x.com
- The TN Industries Department replied that suppliers follow carmakers: 'Kia set up in Anantapur long back, Opposition should answer why Kia went to AP instead of Tamil Nadu.' theprint.in
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- In May 2017 Tamil Nadu's government said Kia chose Andhra only due to its internal policy of not setting up where Hyundai is. thenewsminute.com
- In Nov 2025 the Korean shoe maker Hwaseung's ₹1,720 cr, 20,000-job Tamil Nadu plan went to Kuppam, Andhra; T.R.B. Rajaa, then Industries Minister, wrote that if one investor goes, a hundred are in line. x.com
Going round, but unproven
Headlines in Dinamalar and Dinakaran use this framing, but the pages I checked do not show a Tamil Nadu offer, a signed Tamil Nadu MoU or a shortlist that included the state. Nainar's claim that talks happened is his statement. It is not documented in the reports I read.
This is a political charge from the DMK and BJP. I found no source showing how the suppliers decided or what they were offered. The Industries Department's reply that suppliers follow carmakers, and that two of the three already operate in Anantapur, was not confirmed in the pages I checked.
ThePrint (2 Nov 2026) reports, from unnamed sources, that the first round of talks was under the DMK government and a second under the TVK; no Tamil Nadu MoU with these firms was found, so who is to blame cannot be settled.
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Kia (2017) went to Andhra by its own policy of not building where Hyundai is, and Hwaseung (2025) for a larger Andhra package; these suppliers are expanding beside Kia while keeping their Tamil Nadu plants. Each move had its own reason; the pattern is the politics, not a proven exodus.
Hwashin and Seoyon are Korean (MarkLines, company sites); Iwamet could not be identified in any registry and is called Korean only in The Economic Times' report.
The AI's take
My view, which is opinion: 'Tamil Nadu lost ₹1,614 crore' is not shown by anything I can find, and neither is the TVK government's blame.
Hwashin and Seoyon have run plants at Sriperumbudur since 2002 and 2000 and are now signing MoUs for plants beside Kia's Andhra plant, while no Tamil Nadu offer, MoU or shortlist has surfaced, and Nainar's claim of talks is only his statement.
The sharper question is jobs, like the 2025 Hwaseung shoe plant that Tamil Nadu had announced (₹1,720 cr, 20,000 promised jobs) before it went to Kuppam, and any government should say what it offered to whom instead of shouting 'loss' or 'business logic'.
Why
- Hwashin (since 2002) and Seoyon (since 2000) run plants at SIPCOT Irungattukottai, and as far as the checked sources show those plants remain. The new MoUs add plants near Kia's Andhra plant, so this looks like expansion beside Kia, not an exit from Tamil Nadu.
- Auto suppliers generally locate within a day's drive of the assembly plant they feed (a general Chicago Fed study of US suppliers), and Kia chose Penukonda in 2017 when the AIADMK governed Tamil Nadu. That makes the carmaker's pull a plausible factor, but no source shows how these three firms actually decided.
- No Tamil Nadu offer, signed MoU or shortlist including the state has been found. Nainar's claim of talks is his statement, and the Industries Department's reply is only partly confirmed: true for Seoyon (in Anantapur since 2017), not clearly for Hwashin (a depot only), and Iwamet is unidentified.
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- MoUs are promises, not factories, so both the 'we lost it' and the 'we offset it' lines rest on promised numbers. The ₹1,614 cr deal promises 1,418 jobs, while Tamil Nadu's announced 2025 Hwaseung plan promised 20,000 jobs for ₹1,720 cr (Andhra's own figures for it differ: ₹898 cr, 17,645 jobs), so the bigger jobs question is the shoe plant, not these suppliers.
- Every government has used the 'business logic' line and every opposition the 'we lost it' line. The AIADMK said in 2017 that Kia's choice was internal policy, and T.R.B. Rajaa wrote 'if one goes, a hundred are in line' in 2025 and 'Investment opportunities slipping away!' in 2026.
What each side would say back
You are letting the government off. A new government's first big investment test should be judged on results, and a serious state would have kept even expansion plants of firms already in Sriperumbudur.
You still treat it as an open question, but suppliers follow Kia, and we say four other Kia suppliers signed ₹820 crore MoUs here. You also bring up Hwaseung and Rajaa when the issue is these three firms.
Whether or not it counts as a formal loss, Andhra is catching up in autos and jobs are at stake; asking for papers feels like delay while the gap grows.
What would change its mind
If documents or the companies show Tamil Nadu was formally shortlisted or made an offer that was not matched or followed up, I would say it was a real loss and put blame on whoever held the file. If the talks turn out to have started under the DMK and stalled after May 2026, I would split the blame. If Iwamet is shown to be a Korean firm with a live Tamil Nadu proposal, or Hwashin or Seoyon had planned a new Sriperumbudur plant, I would revise. If the Kia (2017) and Hwaseung (2025) cases are sourced as Tamil Nadu offers that were outbid, I would take the 'pattern' claim far more seriously.
An AI model's take, reviewed for fairness. Not an endorsement.
The research
On 23 Oct 2026 three auto-parts makers that supply Hyundai and Kia (Hwashin ₹850 cr, Seoyon ₹514.17 cr, Iwamet ₹250 cr) signed MoUs with Andhra Pradesh at a CII regional conference in Anantapur: ₹1,614.17 crore and 1,418 promised jobs. Nobody in Tamil Nadu reacted until The Economic Times called it 'Andhra Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu' on 2 Nov; Stalin then blamed the TVK government's negligence, T.R.B.
Rajaa wrote 'Investment opportunities slipping away!', and the BJP joined. The TN Industries Department replied that suppliers follow carmakers: Kia set up in Anantapur long ago.
The two confirmed Korean firms are Tamil Nadu firms: Hwashin has been at SIPCOT Irungattukottai, Sriperumbudur since 2002 and Seoyon since 2000, and Seoyon has also had a plant beside Kia's since 2017; the new MoUs add plants near Kia (Iwamet's is in Kurnool and its identity is unconfirmed). Kia itself went to Andhra in 2017; Tamil Nadu's AIADMK government said then that Kia does not build where Hyundai already is.
In Nov 2025, under the DMK, a Korean shoe maker's ₹1,720 cr, 20,000-job Tamil Nadu plan went to Kuppam, Andhra; the DMK's industries minister wrote then that if one investor goes, a hundred are in line. Every government has used the 'business logic' line and every opposition the 'we lost it' line.
Background
Hyundai has built cars at Sriperumbudur since 1998 with dozens of suppliers around it. Its sister company Kia chose Penukonda in Andhra in 2017 and opened in 2019; parts makers set up beside it. Andhra courts investors with land, subsidies and regional MoU conferences.
Who gains, who loses
Jobs, not crores: an auto-parts plant gives few jobs per crore, a footwear plant many. Every party uses each 'loss' to Andhra against whoever governs.
What most coverage misses
The suppliers did not leave Tamil Nadu; they are expanding next to Kia, which went to Andhra in 2017 under the AIADMK; and the bigger jobs loss was the 20,000-job shoe plant in 2025 under the DMK.
The numbers
Timeline
- Kia signs its MoU with Andhra Pradesh for a plant at Penukonda, Anantapur. autocarpro.in
- The TN government (EPS as CM) says Kia chose not to come only due to its internal policy of not setting up where Hyundai is. thenewsminute.com
- Seoyon opens its plant at Erramanchi, Penukonda, next to Kia. seoyoneh.com
- TN announces Hwaseung's ₹1,720 cr non-leather footwear plant with 20,000 direct jobs. dtnext.in
- Hwaseung picks Kuppam, Andhra (₹898 cr, 17,645 jobs per AP); EPS and BJP attack the DMK; Rajaa replies on X. x.com
- Hwashin, Seoyon and Iwamet sign MoUs worth ₹1,614.17 cr with Andhra Pradesh at the CII Anantapur regional conference. deccanchronicle.com
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- The Economic Times reports 'Andhra Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu'; Stalin and Rajaa post; the BJP joins. economictimes.indiatimes.com
- The TN Industries Department says suppliers follow carmakers, not politics. theprint.in
Claims checked
The two confirmed Korean firms already operate in Tamil Nadu and are adding plants beside Kia's Andhra plant; talks with TN were about expanding here; no TN MoU with them was found. economictimes.indiatimes.com
True for Seoyon (plant since 2017); Hwashin has only a registered warehouse/depot near Kia; Iwamet unidentified and its unit is in Kurnool. theprint.in
Findings
Company registry (Hwashin, incorporated 3 Jan 2002, Irungattukottai) and Seoyon's own location page. Seoyon E-Hwa
TN government statement quoted by TNM and IANS. The News Minute, 2017-05-12
DC/Hans 23–24 Oct 2026; DT Next 22 Aug 2025; arithmetic. Deccan Chronicle, 2026-10-23
His own X posts, 15 Nov 2025 and 2 Nov 2026. T.R.B. Rajaa on X, 2026-11-02
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Klier, Chicago Fed (2005); Seoyon's plant map. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2005-07-01
ThePrint, 4 Nov 2026, the department's words in quotation marks. ThePrint, 2026-11-04
What they said before
Kia stayed out only due to its own internal policy (not a loss for TN). thenewsminute.com
TN will not race to the bottom with unrealistic packages; if one goes, a hundred are in line. x.com
Tamil Nadu has become a land of missed chances under Stalin. dtnext.in
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Asked whether Stalin's trips were for investment from abroad or investment abroad. thefederal.com
₹1,614 cr of Korean investment went to Andhra because of the TVK government's negligence. x.com
Still open
- Who is Iwamet, and is it Korean?
- Did Tamil Nadu offer these firms anything in the 2026 talks?