Chennai, Nov. 10: Samsung India Electronics today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government to set up two projects — an SEZ unit and a domestic tariff area (DTA) — at an investment of Rs 450 crore.

The company will invest about Rs 284 crore in the DTA to manufacture colour TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. It will also set up an SEZ to manufacture computer monitors, printers at an investment of Rs 166 crore.

The projects will provide direct employment to 2,500 professionals and indirect employment to 1,500.

Samsung’s first Indian plant, set up in 1995-96, is in Noida. It also has its R&D facilities based there. The new facility will be completed in two phases. In the first phase, the company will invest $70 million to manufacture the products and will spend $30 million in the second to scale up the capacity.

“Samsung’s decision to expand its manufacturing facilities is a proud moment for the country and symbolises growth. It shows how things are moving faster in Tamil Nadu under its chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s pro-active leadership,” said Union telecommunications and information technology minister, Dayanidhi Maran, shortly after the company inked an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government here.

Besides Karunanidhi and Maran, also present were S.H. Oh, president and CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia regional headquarters, R. Zutshi, deputy-managing director of Samsung India Electronics and industries secretary Shakthikantha Das.

Samsung has been allotted 80 acres near Sriperumbudur — where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated a special economic zone (SEZ), being developed by Flextronics, last week. Of this land, 50 acres will be for the DTA and the rest for the SEZ. Both stretches will be contiguous.

The DTA allotment is to enable Samsung manufacture for the domestic market, Maran said. It will create a “new eco-system”, as it will source some of its requirements from Flextronics, he added.

The Tamil Nadu government has also earmarked another 40 acres to accommodate the component vendors Samsung will bring in.