The Kerala government has prepared projects worth nearly Rs 32,000 crore (Rs 320 billion) to be showcased during the first ever Global Investors' Meet that the state is organising in Kochi on January 18 and 19.
To be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, GIM is the Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony government's last bid to change the image of Kerala as an investment-hostile state.
After Kerala has won accolades in tourism by branding itself as God's Own County, the Antony government has coined a new catchword for luring investment -- Kerala: the land of infinite opportunity.
Whether the multi-billion projects, vetted by the international consulting agency PricewaterhouseCoopers, would become a reality or not, Antony's investment initiatives have created two positive results.
First, like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Antony too has built up hype about the investor meet; and second, he has silenced the Communist parties who initially opposed the event.
One of the key speakers during the GIM inauguration ceremony will be leader of the Communist Party of India Marxist-led opposition V S Achuthanandan who has declared 'constructive support' to the investors' meet.
"This is for the first time that there is this kind of rare political unity and overwhelming desire from the people for attracting investment into Kerala. We are certain that most of our investment proposals are realistic and will be lapped up by potential investors," said Jiji Thompson, managing director of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, the nodal agency that is organising the GIM.
Top officials like Thompson who have been preparing for the investment meet for the past one-year point out that Kerala is now poised to make major strides in industrial investment.
To prove that he means business this time, Antony has already launched a series of innovative industrial, IT, tourism and labour policies by abolishing obsolete laws.
"We have now created an ideal environment for investment in Kerala. We are certain that the state is soon going to become an investors' paradise," said state Industry Minister P K Kunjalikutty.
Officials claim they have identified investors for some of the major projects that will come up in information technology, tourism, education, health, engineering, infrastructure, agro business and food processing.
"The projects are worth nearly Rs 32,000 crore. We have managed to sign expression of interests for many projects. There are many investors for some of our mega projects in the tourism and infrastructure areas," said a senior government official.
Some of the mega projects include the construction of an express high way across the length of Kerala -- from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram, an international airport at Kannur, private air taxi services between top tourist destinations such as Kumarakom, Munnar and Vagamon, a Sky Bus project at Kochi, and sea sand mining units.
Officials said the unique tourist attractions of Kerala have attracted investments worth Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in the travel and hospitality sector.
Besides, Kerala's inherent advantages like being the largest producer of rubber, coconuts, cashew, tapioca and spices along with its long coastline and wealth of seafood are expected to attract many investors for the agro business and food processing sectors.
Already, Infosys Technologies Ltd has announced that it will soon open a software development center in the state.
The Infosys decision is expected to lead major IT players to Kerala as it is the only state with twin submarine cable landings, 100 per cent digital exchanges and lowest operational costs in the country.
Nearly 700 potential investors from within India and abroad are expected to attend the investor meet.
The Antony government has already conducted a series of road shows within the country and abroad, mainly the Untied States, Europe, Middle East and South East Asia as a precursor to the investment meet.
