The Summit concluded on Saturday, February 22 with the State Government pocketing Expression of Interests (EoI) for Rs 1, 52, 905 crore in investments from 374 companies. This does not include the Information Technology sector in which 24 companies have promised investments of Rs 8,500 crore to expand and strengthen activities in Kerala.

The proposals which have come after the conclusion of the conclave include one of $500 million from a company abroad, Rs 500 crore from a sports research and allied activities company, Rs 2,500 crore from a construction company and another Rs 2,000 crore from the RP Group.

Among the other business majors offering big investments are the Yusufali-headed Lulu Group International (LGI), which committed an investment of Rs 5000 crore with an employment potential of 15,000 jobs in the next four to five years. The investments will go into a food processing zone in Kalamassery and IT and fintech infrastructure in the Global City project proposed by the State. Besides, the Group’s twin IT towers at Infopark, Kochi, which will employ close to 25,000 professionals, would be commissioned within the next three months.

The UAE-based shipping and logistics giant Sharaf Group has signalled its intent to invest Rs 5,000 crore in Kerala. The Group is set to invest in two locations in the State in logistics and shipping.

Another big announcement has been made by the Artson Engineering Limited, under the Tata Projects Ltd, which will invest Rs 500 crore over the coming year in a joint venture with Malabar Cements to establish a facility for building boats with capacity of less than 100 tonnes. The facility is set to come up on a plot leased by Malabar Cements for clinker imports on the Kochi Port Authority land on Willingdon Island. Initially Rs 100 crore will be invested in the boat-building project. The volume of investment by the Artson Engineering, which is based in Hyderabad, is expected to go up to Rs 500 crore in the coming years.

In the meantime a proposal mooted by the Kerala Government has received enthusiastic response from countries like Norway. The State has offered opportunities for employees in countries like Norway as the climate conditions there change drastically between summer and winter months.

The two-day summit saw the Kerala Chief Minister meeting business delegations besides 50 business people in person. He also met GCC representatives besides addressing the community of diplomats. On his part, industries Minister P. Rajeeve met as many as 1,000 business people.

It is heartening to note that the LDF Government is determined to see that the momentum generated by the summit is not lost because of lack of follow-up. Rajeeve said that each EoI would receive individual attention from the Government, which would form committees to monitor the progress of every investment proposal. A dashboard-based follow-up would be put in place. Also in place, within a week, would be a toll`-free phone number and e-mail for enquiries on the investment proposals.

The State Government also proposes to set up an emerging technology hub to facilitate the journey of companies during this wave of gen next emerging technologies. The hub, to be implemented by the Kerala Start-up Mission at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, will focus mainly on space, health, renewal energy, agriculture and digital media.

To facilitate time-bound evaluation, the proposals have been divided into seven groups. Those involving less than Rs 50 crore investments will be vetted under the Directorate of Industries and those with investments more than Rs 50 crore will be studied by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).

Last but not the least, once in two weeks the progress of the EoIs will be evaluated by both the Industries Minister and the Principal secretary. A secretary-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary is also being set up to speed up clearance of projects.

At the end of the day, it can safely be said that the Summit marked a major landmark in the journey to turn Kerala into an investment-friendly destination. (IPA Service)