Industrial licenses and permits within one week of applying

 Thiruvananthapuram, May 04: In an effort to attract large scale investments in Kerala and to make the State a preferred investment destination, Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced a slew of initiatives to boost investments.

Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, “The Covid pandemic opens up new possibilities for Kerala. The extraordinary way in which we handled this outbreak has made the State one of the safest and secured industrial investment centres in the world. We are getting a lot of inquiries from investors and entrepreneurs from around the world who is interested in Kerala. Our strength is the manpower here and we have once again proved that our human resources are comparable to any developed nation in the world. Considering all these factors, the government is making some decisions to attract a large number of industrial investments to Kerala.”

1. All industrial licenses and permits will be issued within one week of application. Permission will be granted with certain conditions which the entrepreneur should complete within a year.

2. Multimodal logistics centres will be established in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur connecting the airport, port, rail and road. This will make Kerala a major force in international trade and commerce.

3. Logistics parks will be set up in different parts of the state to take advantage of export and import opportunities.

4. Azheekal Port will be developed to address the demands of north Kerala region. The port will be equipped to handle large amounts of cargo.

5. Value-added products will be promoted in the agriculture sector. Land at Palakkad Mega Food Park will be leased out to industrialists for making value-added agro products.

6. A coconut park will be established in north Kerala with an emphasis on value-added products.

7. An Advisory Committee will be formed to make Kerala into a preferred investment destination. Investors, policymakers and industry leaders will be part of the CM’s Investment Advisory Committee.

8. Star rating system will be introduced for investments. The Gold, Silver and Bronze positions will be awarded in terms of investment and generated employment. This ranking will determine the benefits and concessions to be offered by the government.

Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, and Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS were also present during the briefing.