'Make-in-Kerala' on the anvil to woo more investments

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress-led UDF government Thursday said it was considering "Make-in-Kerala" programme on the model of Prime Minister's ambitious Make-in-India project to woo more investments in various sectors in the state.

Industries and IT minister P K Kunhalikutty said several areas have been identified for the programme.

"We welcome the Centre's Make-in-India programme. We are planning several programmes and industrial associations in the state on par with the initiative," he told reporters here today.

He said FICCI had identified certain areas for the Make-in-Kerala programme and submitted the proposal to the government.

Referring to the state's industrial promotion programmes, he said the state government could not give 'easy clearance' for industrial projects like many other states.

"Our growth concept is inclusive and it reaches to large number of people. But, we cannot be like Gujarat or any other big states in terms of easy clearance for industrial projects. We have to consider several factors and issues before giving clearance to a project proposal," he said.

"Availability of land is also an issue for a state like Kerala. We cannot give easy clearance to industries like mining, that creates environment pollution, and also that need large stretch of land," he said.

On the programmes in IT sector, he said the government would launch a campaign to promote rural IT parks in the state and woo investments there.

"Rural IT parks are not a bad concept. We have such parks in several places like Kunadara, Koratti, Cherthala and so on. We have a plan to promote rural parks through road shows and other such campaigns," he said.

Following the success of start-up village in Kochi, the government is now planning to make Kozhikode the next start-up destination, he said.

The minister also said the work of the much-awaited Smart City project in Kochi will be completed soon and ready for inauguration in December.