Kerala set to showcase its industry-friendly face

Emerging Kerala – Global Connect Summit, a government initiative to attract overseas capital to the state, is set to begin from Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurating the summit.

This is the second such initiative by the United Democratic Front (UDF) to showcase the investment opportunities Kerala offers in various sectors like tourism, IT and Infrastructure. 

In January 2003, the then UDF government had organised a  Global Investors Meet in which investment proposals worth Rs 26,000 crore were finalised.

Then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee who inaugurated the summit offered a direct central investment of Rs 10,000 crore in Kerala.

But in terms of realisation, the total investment made was roughly Rs 180 crore and the employment generation was to the tune of 1000 only. However, chief minister Oommen Chandy said GIM was not  a failure as it spread the message to the world that Kerala was also a destination for investment.

The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), the nodal agency for organising the summit, has showcased a bouquet of projects for the perusal of potential investors.

These include supplementary gas infrastructure project for taking up  city gas distribution in Kerala, CNG Stations for KSRTC buses, establishment of a gas training institute, laying of spur lines from GAIL's main pipeline, and setting up of small gas-based power generating plants etc.

Other mega projects are Petroleum Chemicals & Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR), Kochi-Palakkad National Investment and Manufacturing Zone, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kottayam, high-speed rail corridor, sea plane services in Kerala, electronic hub, titanium sponge project, oceanarium project at Kochi, life sciences park and gas-based power project at Cheemeni in Kasargod district.

The total likely investment is Rs 300,000 crore through 163 projects.

There will be two country sessions - one exclusively for Canada and the other for Japan, UK and the US. Apart from this, four plenary sessions, three sectoral sessions and a special session for NRKs would be arranged. Delegates from 52 nations would participate in the three-day summit.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the Kochi metro rail project on Thursday.