In respect of industrial growth, the southernmost state of Kerala has put up a sluggish performance, vis-à-vis the national average, dipping to even negative growth during 2001-2002 and 2004-2005. Despite the vast number of NRIs from Kerala, the state has not been able to attract FDI Between January 1999 to 2005, the FDI in Kerala was a meagre 1.26 %, totaling Rs. 1217 crore in 184 projects.

However, the Kerala Government is all set to seek NRI investments with a target of Rs 10,000 crore set for the current year. In its new policy announced yesterday, the state industries minister, Elamaram Kareem, revealed the Government’s action plan, with sops for investments over Rs.100 crore, land banks, and government participation in projects.

Incentives for green technology are also being proposed in the policy The target of the investments would be primarily the knowledge business.

The Kerala State Industrial Corporation would be setting up a Life Sciences Park for FDI in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, nanotechnology in manufacturing, R&D and clinical development. NRIs would be approached for their funds as well as their expertise in manufacturing and services.

Infrastructure Kerala - Inkel is being set up jointly by the state government and NRIs from Kerala. Land between 25 acres to 350 acres would be provided by the LDF Government for NRI projects and product-specific Special Economic Zones like a gem and jewellery SEZ, textile SEZ and a Biotech SEZ.

A single-window clearance is under-way to simplify investment procedures Large-scale industrial parks are on the anvil, such as the Kinfra Integrated Textile Park at Pallakkad and the Mega Food Park at Wayanad in addition to Knowledge cities in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Palakkad.

The Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam corridor would have a concentration of the IT and ITes industry, as would the BT & Hitech Electronics Corridor in Kochi. Palakkad will also host a Food Processing and Textile Park.

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