Kerala plans entrepreneurship index to rank districts, approves 27 private industrial parks

KOCHI: Kerala is planning to launch a district-level entrepreneurship index based on the number of enterprises, employment generated and women entrepreneurs. It is a new system to rank districts for investment-friendliness. Meanwhile, the state’s initiative to encourage private entrepreneurs to start their own businesses is bearing fruit with 27 private industrial parks getting government approval.

“The Entrepreneurship Index will help us know how industry-friendly each district is. It will be released in the next three months,” state industries minister P Rajeeve said while inaugurating the conclave on continuous investment in Kochi on Monday.

In the second phase, the state government will roll out the ranking to panchayats and municipalities based on the same criteria, he said. “We are also planning to set up a taluk investment facilitation cell to help the investors. Every month, the officials will visit the companies to collect data and upload it online so that the ministerial-level officials can know the status of these companies. These officials will also address the grievances of investors,” Rajeeve said. The conclave was attended by 300 investors from 283 organisations.

Talking about private industrial parks, the minister said the government has approved 27 private industrial parks in the state, with the first park being launched in Palakkad district. “Anyone with less than 10 acres of land can launch an industrial park in the state. We have received several applications from individuals and in the last one year we have given approval to 27. Also, the campus industrial park initiative, to encourage entrepreneurship among students by setting up parks on campuses with not less than five acres of land, has also received a good response with 80 colleges interested in starting industries,” he said.

Rajeeve explained that the initiative to set up industries will now be extended to the cooperative sector and discussions are on to ensure availability of land and other facilities. “The focus is on generating employment. We have mapped out land under panchayat and municipalities in the state to set up an industrial park. The industries department will provide financial support to the cooperatives to set up and run industries,” he added. Discussions have been held between the industries and revenue departments to resolve the issues related to availability of land to start new industries. “We have four types of industrial parks Sidco (Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation), district level, KSIDC and the high-end KINFRA. The land is being made available through high purchase, lease and pattayam. In consultation with the revenue department, we have formulated a new land revenue policy to help entrepreneurs and make the application process easier for them,” he said.

The state government is also aiming to set up an average of 1,000 companies in the state with a turnover of Rs 100 crore and as many as 150 organisations have been selected by the department. To ease the process of setting up a company, the state government has also appointed executives and set up a help desk for each panchayat, help desk etc. Now, the officials who delay the procedures will be fined. The minister also said that action will be taken against officials who delay the paperwork.