THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Government’s industrial parks project has gained further momentum following the decision to expand the scope of the Private Industrial Estate (PIE) scheme to enable individual developers also to build industrial parks to step up the industrial infrastructure in the state.
As per the revised scheme, individual developers having a minimum of 10 acres of land at their disposal can apply for developing industrial parks. So far, eight individual developers have been given permits to build private industrial parks in different parts of the state, and 20 applications are under process.
When it was launched, PIE scheme 2022 had stipulated that only companies, cooperatives and consortium of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units were eligible to take advantage of the scheme by applying for Private Industrial Estate Developer Permit. This has been revised to facilitate individual developers also to set up industrial parks availing the incentives being provided by the government.
As per the revised Policy, the Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC), Government of Kerala, will provide up to Rs 3 crore as grant for each developer to create infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, water supply, sewage and effluent treatment plants and communication networks in private industrial parks.
Director of Industries and Commerce S Harikishore said two of these parks will be operational this year itself. The state is expected to have at least 25 private industrial parks by the end of this financial year, he added.
The government has set a target of having 100 private industrial parks covering an area of 1,000 acres in four years.
The private industrial parks that have been given permit include VMPS Food Park & Ventures, Kannur; Malabar Enterprises, Malappuram; Indian Virgin Spices (P) Ltd, Kottayam; Kadambur Industries Park, Palakkad; Jacob & Richard International Pvt Ltd, Kottayam; Sance Steriles Pvt Ltd, Kottayam; Delta Aggregates and Sand Pvt Ltd, Pathanamthitta; and Pathanamthitta Industrial Promotion Pvt Ltd, Pathanamthitta.
As in the case of the government parks, the policy facilitates single-window clearance for establishing private industrial parks as well.
To get the Developer Permit, applications can be submitted through online and a District-Level Site Selection Committee will inspect the plot. The Committee will submit a report to the State-Level Selection Committee, headed by the Principal Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce, which will evaluate the report and issue the Developer Permit. After getting the permit, the park has to be developed in two years.
As per the policy, the land proposed for the parks should not fall in the purview of Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008. Moreover, it shall not fall in ecologically sensitive areas, coastal regulation zone and plantation areas.
Minimum 10 acres of land is required for leasing out the land while Standard Design Factory (SDF) needs only five acres.
Red category industries as notified by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board shall not be permitted in Private Industrial Parks. The land in the parks shall be allotted only for industrial units, it states.
