It Only Takes One Minute to Start a Venture in Kerala: Minister P Rajeeve

BENGALURU:
It only takes one minute for an MSME to start in Kerala as the state now has a highly conducive industrial ecosystem that received the top ranking in the latest Ease of Doing Business rating by the Union Government, according to Kerala’s Minister for Industries Coir and Law P Rajeeve.

The Minister was interacting with industry leaders here during a roadshow organised by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday.

“The facts are far away from the general presumption that Kerala is not suitable for industries,” Rajeeve said, showcasing the state’s highly-enabling ecosystem for a wide range of enterprises to thrive and the recent initiatives of the state government that enhanced the Ease of Doing Business.

Rajeeve highlighted how Kerala has achieved the number one position in ease of doing business in the country.

“Regarding ease of doing business, Kerala was ranked 28th position at the time we (the present government) assumed office. But, after implementing several reforms and bringing in a new industrial policy, we could achieve ‘Top Achiever’ position in most number of reform areas in Ease of Doing Business,” said the Minister.

“By incorporating the advantages and factoring in barriers we have adopted a new industrial policy with the motto ‘nature, people, industry,’ where nature and people come first. We are focussing on knowledge-based industries with 22 priority sectors including AI, blockchain technology, Graphene, big data analytics, machine learning, aerospace and defence, etc,” P Rajeeve pointed out.

Elaborating on the innovative measures taken by the government, he said KCIS (Kerala Centralized Inspection System) marked a paradigm shift in industrial eco system as it enabled randomized software driven scheduling of statutory inspections done on an enterprise.The system is so transparent that the inspection report is uploaded in the public domain within 48 hours of the inspection.

“As part of the ‘Year of Enterprises’ initiative of the government, within 2 years and 6 months, we could establish over 2,90,000 MSME’s in Kerala, with an investment of over Rs 18,000 crore. Out of this, 92000 are women entrepreneurs and 30 transgenders,” the Minister said.

Now every district has an MSME clinic where investors can get advice from the experts when issues arise in business. An insurance scheme has been introduced with the government paying 50 percent of the premium for the MSMEs, he said.

Referring to various supports extended by the government to new investors, he said “ICAI (Institution of Chartered Accounts Association of India), offered free service for the first year after the establishment of unit for preparing GST returns and financial statements. And, we now have K-store facility connected with ration shops. We have entered an MoU with the Food and Civil Supplies Ministry regarding this and within 8 months, 9 crore worth of MSME products had been sold through this K store mechanism,” Rajeeve said.

Citing the example of the Cochin Shipyard Limited, the Minister mentioned that not a single factory was disrupted by workers’ agitation in the past 25 years in Kerala, which clearly shows that the state’s industrial landscape has turned totally investor-friendly and adaptive.

On Kerala’s higher education system, Rajeeve said that our universities are adaptive to technological changes. “Innovations like campus industrial parks- where students can do paid internships and get work exposure while pursuing education, is a reflection of our changing educational concepts based on producing highly skilled workforce,” he noted.

Kerala’s strategic focus on the defence and aerospace sectors, combined with a comprehensive policy framework and robust infrastructure, positions the state at the forefront of India’s journey into the space economy, the Minister said.

The event in Bengaluru was part of a series of Kerala Industrial Roadshows planned by the state government to attract investments in the areas of aerospace, artificial intelligence, defence, robotics, biotechnology, electric vehicles, food processing, information technology, logistics, maritime business, ship building, medical instruments and equipment, packaging, research and development, waste treatment, and renewable energy sources.

A P M Mohammed Hanish, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce, S Harikishore, Managing Director, KSIDC, Hari Krishnan R, Executive Director, KSIDC, Santhosh Koshy Thomas, Managing Director, KINFRA, Praveen K S, CEO, KLIP, Vinod Manjila, Chairman, CII Kerala State Council and Rabindra Srikantan, Vice Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council, were present.