The Hindu Business Line : Kerala plans to float industrial infrastructure development co

Industry & Economy - Infrastructure
Web Extras - Financial Institutions
States - Kerala
Kerala plans to float industrial infrastructure development co

Our Bureau

Public-private enterprise to take up major projects

The new company will engage itself in acquiring land, building infrastructure and leasing the facility to new enterprises.

THE KERALA MINISTER for Industries, Mr Elamaram Kareem, addresses a press meet in Kochi on Thursday. - Vipin Chandran

Kochi , July 13

The State Government is planning to float an industrial infrastructure development company to take up major infrastructure projects in the sector, the State Industries Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem, has said.

The company will be a public-private enterprise in the model of Cochin International Airport Ltd and the Government will have a maximum stake of 26 per cent through its agencies such as Kinfra and Kerala State Industries Development Corporation. The remaining shares will be given to public and the company will be registered by September-end, he said at a press meet.

The Minister, who was here to attend a State-level meeting of the cluster development programme, told newspersons that the Government would also appoint a consultant to advise it for the formation of the new company. The capital requirements for the projects to be taken up, investment pattern etc will be decided by the consultant.

Industrialists' meet

The Industries Department is also planning to hold a meeting of major industrialists in Kochi on July 29 to get their views on the nature and business of the new company, he said.

The Government, he said, had proposed to develop large industrial parks by acquiring 500-3,000 acres in the State. It had already identified two areas: one near the national highway between Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram for a high tech industrial park and another in northern Kerala. The focus in the industrial parks would be on the manufacturing sector.

According to Mr Kareem, the new company would engage itself basically in acquiring land, building infrastructure and leasing the facility to new enterprises.

Large chunks of land are still needed if Kerala is to woo investments. Kerala needs to woo investments in new and emerging

sectors and for this purpose new infrastructure has to be developed.

At the same time, he pointed out that the existing agencies such as Kinfra and KSIDC will continue to function as now. The Government will also try to get SEZ for some of the parks, he said, adding that all these efforts have been taken to convert Kerala into an investment friendly destination.

Single-window facility

The Government is of the view that the single-window facility available to investors in the State is not functioning properly. It had constituted a committee to improve the functioning of the system and the committee is likely to submit its report within two months, the Minister said.

The department has also proposed to implement a revival package for the SSI sector. The cluster development approach is being strengthened to address the common problem in the SSI sector and make them competitive and viable.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Financial Institutions | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page