THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 16 June 2007 — Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has unveiled its industrial policy with special focus on attracting investments.
The major proposal in the policy is to set up a “land bank” to make land readily available for major projects.
With a population of 31,838,619 in a narrow stretch of 38,863 sq. km. (819 per sq. km.), shortage of land is one of the major hurdles for investors. The new policy aims at addressing this problem by ensuring more benefits to residents who part with their land.
The government will acquire maximum available land in advance and encourage the lease of land as equity participation by landowners. There would be mechanism to acquire surrounding areas for future expansion.
Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem who unveiled the policy here last week, said the government’s efforts have started to bear fruit and the state received concrete proposals worth Rs.100 billion.
“The negative image about Kerala when it comes to investments is a thing of the past. We now attract moderate investment inflow and the new policy aims at streamlining it through strengthening the single-window clearance for investment proposals,” the minister said.
He said the government’s focus would be on sunrise industries like information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology. It will also aggressively promote special economic zones “as long as the federal polices favor it.”
To attract massive investments into the state as well as techno-managerial efficiencies associated with it, the government will promote public-private partnership in infrastructure development. The private partner will be selected through a transparent and open bidding process.
The management will have the right to choose and employ people. Unfair labor and trade practices will be dealt with firmly.
“One of the factors that restricted the flow of investment into the state was the apprehension about an unfriendly workforce. This notion has been negated by statistics that show the state lost least man-days in India due to labor unrest. We will spearhead a massive campaign to highlight the healthy labor relations and to remove the unfounded perceptions,” the minister said.
The state will promote product-specific special economic zones (SEZs), including those for services.
The state-run agencies Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and Kerala Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) will set up SEZs in Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod and Malappuram for gem and jewelry, textile and biotechnology.
The newly-formed Infrastructure Kerala Limited (InKel), mainly promoted by NRIs, will promote Information Technology & IT Enabled Services Corridor along the National Highway from Kovalam near here to Kollam in the neighboring district, Biotechnology & Hi-Tech Electronics Corridor along seaport-airport road in Kochi and Food Processing & Textile Corridor along Kanjikode-Walayar Highway in Palakkad.
The government plans to set up industrial parks dedicated to textile, agro-processing electronics and information and communication technology while ensuring uninterrupted quality power and potable water to industries.
Also in the pipeline are Watercraft Park and Print Village in Kochi, a “world class” electronic hub for attracting global brands in hardware and equipment, home appliances and semiconductor, research and development centers for knowledge industries, life sciences park and permanent exhibition centers in all the 14 districts beginning with Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
“Establishing credibility of the state through transparent functioning and creating investor confidence through a long-term policy framework are expected to make Kerala one of the preferred destinations for domestic and foreign investment. The state roads will be developed on par with the international standards,” the minister said.
“The thrust areas for future focus for the accelerated industrial development and balanced regional development will be industrial and supportive infrastructure in the state through creation of more number of industrial parks, industrial townships, industrial corridors, knowledge cities and special economic zones,” he added. The policy aims at achieving “consistently high economic growth with specific thrust to social objectives, without adversely affecting ecology and environment.”
Kerala will be converted into a favorite destination for manufacturing, agro-processing, health services and knowledge-based Industries.
Though the private education institutions and the LDF government continues to be at loggerheads over the state’s control of educational institutions, the policy advocates strategy “to develop Kerala as a global center of excellence with state of the art education and skill sets and prepare a pool of multi-skilled, technically-competent individuals and organizations.”
The government vows to take all possible steps to materialize the major projects including two deepwater ports in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and new international airport and power project in Kannur.
The government proposes to set up a chain of agro-based industries and to create a common “Kerala brand” for value-added products.
The state’s IT policy also has several incentives for investors with subsidies for investments in all districts except Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi going up from 20 to 40 percent. Subsidies for investments in the two districts, where most of the IT units are concentrated, have been hiked from 20 to 30 percent.
