With a view to taking swift action on projects to be showcased at the Global Investor Meet scheduled for Jan 18-19 at Kochi, the Kerala government has decided to further strengthen its single window clearance cell and make it a role model for the rest of the country.
"The existing statutory body under the chief secretary will be turned into a strong, professional set-up and its functions made more meaningful," state Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
He said the step was for time-bound implementation of projects submitted for consideration. However, the entire process would be legal and no procedure would be by-passed.
The government would intensify its efforts to woo investment after the GIM and the next year would witness a professional drive for follow-up action on the meet, he said.
It would welcome debate on any aspect of the projects being showcased at the GIM and a political consensus would be evolved before taking decisions. No across-the-table decision was to be expected at the GIM.
As many as 30 investment announcements were expected at the GIM in the industrial and infrastructure sectors. The expansion projects of Appollo Tyres, English India Clays, Kerala Minerals and Metals and Malabar Cements would come up at the meet, he said.
The government would highlight at the GIM the state's advantages in terms of geographic location, resource base, large pool of trained manpower, favourable industrial and labour policies, political consensus and dynamic leadership.
In the IT sector, the GIM was expected to fetch sectoral investments in the areas of hardware, software services, IT-enabled services, education and training, besides investment on specific projects, state IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said.
She said 12 top IT companies including Microsoft, Wipro, Reliance Infocomm and Sutherland Technologies would send their delegations to the GIM. "We expect that actual investment announcements will be made by many of these companies."
John Mathai, principal secretary (industries), said memoranda of understanding for projects worth Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) were likely to be signed during the GIM.
The food sector would be presented at the meet as an area where Kerala had core strength. Projects for food processing parks at Adoor and Pala would be presented as also schemes for bio-technology parks at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and herbal parks at Wayanad and Kannur.
In the traditional industries sector, projects for value addition to fetch good markets for the state's produce were being planned, L Radhakrishnan, industries' secretary, said. The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation planned to set up four industrial development zones Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Palakkad and Kozhikode for which schemes would be presented at the GIM.
KINFRA managing director G C Gopala Pillai said a 2000-acre industrial zone was planned to be set up in and around Kochi in the first phase. The area would be developed at a cost of Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) with private participation.
