The unprecedented rush of enquiries for space at the proposed petrochemicals park to be developed by the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) in Kochi is seen an indication of the shape of things to come as the government agency looks to add around 6,500 acres to its land bank in a phased manner over the next four to five years.
Kinfra managing director K.A. Santosh Kumar said on Friday that investors had been showing keen interest in the proposed petrochemicals park. Bharat Petroleum Corporation is learnt to be looking for around 170 acres, while the Chennai-based Manali Petrochemicals is scouting for nearly 25 acres. Besides, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has shown keen interest in making substantial investment in the the petrochemicals sector in the State.
Kinfra directly runs three industrial parks in Ernakulam district — Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery; Export Promotion Park at Kakkanad, and Small Industries Park at Nellad. While the Hi-Tech Park owns 240 acres, the Export Promotion Park has 180 acres of which 90 acres have been ceded for InfoPark development, and the Small Industries Park has 60 acres. The space in these developed areas is nearly exhausted, Kinfra sources said.
Electronics cluster
An electronics cluster is coming up at Kakkanad under Kinfra initiative. The facility will have a land area of 67 acres. The Union government has given in-principle approval for the facility and will extend financial aid worth ₹50 crore, Kinfra sources said.
Both the Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery and the Small Industries Park at Nellad employ around 2,000 people each.
The Hi-Tech Park has around 40 units, while the Nellad facility houses 65 SMEs. The Kalamassery facility also houses the Kerala Startup programme in 2 lakh sq ft of built-up space, which was inaugurated by the Chief Minister recently.