Kerala’s Minister of Industries Elamaram Kareem, (sixth from the right), members of his delegation, and Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed with Indian businessmen and other dignitaries in Jeddah. (AN photo
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — The south Indian state of Kerala offers an investor-friendly climate not only for NRIs (non-resident Indians) but also for global investors, Elamaram Kareem, the state’s minister for industries, said while addressing a group of Indian businessmen here.
The minister was in Jeddah to promote InKel (Infrastructures Kerala Ltd.), a government sponsored company designed to undertake the state’s development plans in the industrial and business sectors.
“We have started attracting a large number of global investors who feel their investment is safe and secure in Kerala with promising returns since the state offers expert human resources at comparatively cheaper rate,” said Kareem, who left the Kingdom Thursday night after visiting Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam as part of his Gulf tour.
The Kerala government has splendid schemes in the pipeline such as the container transshipment facility at Kochi and Vizhinjam, he said. The Info Park project at Kochi has been finalized with Dubai Tcom. Several info parks, rubber parks, tourism villages, medical cities, etc are on the cards. Kannur has been tipped as a textile city, Kollam as cashew nut valley and Idikki as a spices park, he pointed out.
“Any entrepreneur, individual or collective, can get single window clearance instantly and proceed with their project with full government support,” Kareem told the meeting, which was organized by the Indian Consulate in Jeddah and the World Malayalee Council. Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed presided over the function.
The work force in Kerala is now well-disciplined, the minister said playing down negative propaganda about labor militancy in the state. “Some industrialists who left the state previously such as Gwalior Rayons have expressed their interest to return to the state now. The atmosphere is definitely congenial to them; otherwise they wouldn’t have returned,” the minister asserted.
“While unveiling the details of the offer, the minister clarified that his team’s main objective was to spread the message that the investment climate in Kerala had been upgraded and modernized to facilitate every kind of industry,” said George Tharakan, coordinator of the business meet.
The minister’s delegation consisted of John Mathai, managing director of InKel, T. Radhakrishnan, principal secretary at the Industries Ministry and N. Sasidharan Nair, private secretary to the minister.
Mathai gave a presentation highlighting the company’s features and prospects. Radhakrishnan spoke on the industrial situation in the state. He also underlined the historical trade relations between India and Arabian Gulf countries.
InKel’s equity stands at Rs.1 billion of which the Kerala government will have a 26 percent stake. The remaining 74 percent has been offered to public. Government will have four directors in the board whereas the shareholders can select eight members.
According to the minister, major investing companies and mutual fund managers have already offered to take the 74 percent stake in the company. But, Kareem said the government is inclined to favor small investors, especially non-resident Keralites (NRKs) in the Gulf who can buy up to 50 shares, each valuing Rs.10,000.
Kareem announced that the government has already transferred its share of Rs.260 million to the InKel’s bank account. Prospective investors can apply directly through InKel’s bankers — State of Bank of India and State Bank of Travancore. Every branch of these banks will accept deposits till the end of May. Representatives of the banks Purushothaman and Ranjit Thomas, who were in the minister’s delegation, distributed share application forms.
Kareem and his team arrived in the Kingdom after visiting Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. They will leave for the UAE after meeting businessmen in Bahrain.
Dignitaries who attended the Jeddah meeting included: K.M. Kurian, regional manager of Air-India, Western Region, Mohammed Alungal and Samad of Al-Abeer Medical Group, Abdul Salam K.P. of Alpha Cargo, M.V. Saleem of Dauhat Al-Uloom International School, Seiko Hamza of Al-Yasmin Polyclinic, V.K. Samad of Rabeeh Al-Jazeera Polyclinic, Mansur Koroth of E-peace, and Shuhaib of Al-Ryan Polyclinic. World Malayalee Council hosted a dinner in honor of the delegation and participants.
Some participants complained that they were not given time to ask questions related to the project. “It’s a good project as it offers shares to the public, especially NRKs in the Gulf. But we want to get assurance that it would not be affected by the change of governments in the state,” said Salah Karadan, a member of the managing committee of the International Indian School, Jeddah.
One businessman said he believed that the capital was meager and would not be enough to carry out big infrastructure projects. Despite the minister’s assurance many businessmen feared labor militancy would put their investment in jeopardy.
InKel has already identified locations in capital Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and other places, where it would set up basic infrastructure for investors interested in starting sunrise industries.
The new company registered two months ago will be formed as a public-private partnership and will be different from the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Infrastructure Ltd and Kerala State Industrial Development Corp.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=95804&d=5&m=5&y=2007
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