Kerala’s Investment Promotion Task Force Firms up Plans to Lure Big Investments

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Special Investment Promotion Task Force set up by the Kerala Government has decided to work out a time-bound action plan to position the state as a major investment destination and also attract foreign investors who wish to relocate manufacturing bases to the state post Covid-19 outbreak.

The Task Force held its first meeting here today under the chairmanship of Dr Vishwas Mehta, Chief Secretary, and Vice Chairman Dr K Ellangovan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce to formulate a conducive action plan to create a promising and enduring investment climate in the state. The meeting was attended by all the 23 members of the task force.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had recently constituted the Special Investment Task Force amidst the pandemic to showcase Kerala as a preferred destination for investments in India with unique offerings in focus sectors of Life Sciences & Healthcare, Agro & Food Processing, Urban Infrastructure, Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, etc.

The primary objective of the task force is to showcase the state’s unique advantages to the Global audience and build an investor friendly ecosystem that would follow a “Collaborative” and “Investor first” approach to make “Investing in Kerala Simpler, Faster and Friendlier”. Also, the task force aims to develop a strategy to attract foreign investors who wished to relocate manufacturing bases post Covid-19 outbreak.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Rajesh Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, T K Jose, Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources, K R Jyothilal, Principal Secretary, Transport; Sanjay Kaul, Secretary, Ports; Rani George, Secretary, Tourism; Anand Singh, GST Commissioner; Dinesh Arora, Secretary, Power.

The discussions centred on sectors that Kerala must focus on to build a unique brand for investments globally. The members emphasized the need to change the current perception about the state, simplifying land acquisition process, building a comprehensive Industry-Academia Collaboration, Job creation, gaining self-sufficiency by transforming Kerala from a consumer economy to a manufacturing economy, improving health and social infrastructure by promoting Make in Kerala initiative.

The participants also suggested improving the state’s online single-window clearance mechanism KSWIFT, encouraging wage subsidy incentives and promoting sectors like Healthcare, Life Science, Defence, MSMEs, Manufacturing, etc. through exclusive sector specific industrial parks and townships.

Those who attended the meeting included Chetan Makam (MD Terumo Penpol Pvt Ltd – Japan Collaboration); Richard Boocock (President, Prodair Air Products India Private Ltd – US Collaboration); Geeman Korah (CEO, Kancor Ingredients Ltd – French Collaboration); Jothish Kumar (MD, Luker Electric Technologies – US Collaboration); S. M Nair representing Tatsushi Tamoto (Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)); Moon Young Kim (President, South West Asia Head Quarter, Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA)); Thomas John Muthoot (Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry Kerala State Council); Deepak Aswani (Co-Chair, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry Kerala State Council); Khalid M (President, Kerala State Small Scale Industries Association(KSSIA)), Santosh Koshy Thomas, Managing Director, KINFRA, and convened by S Hari Kishore, Managing Director, KSIDC.