With COVID-19 apparently on the retreat in the State, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday unveiled a plan to chart a new course in the State’s economic development.
The scheme chiefly hinged on the reasoning that international businesses would decentralise global supply chains rapidly. They direly need to prevent a future COVID-19 scale epidemic outbreak from disrupting production and causing shortages worldwide.
Mr. Vijayan said Kerala’s success in containing outbreaks and its high quality of life index made it a magnet for global investors seeking to shift industries from established production centres in Asia and Europe. Potential investors could also hope to harness the skills and global experience of Non-Resident Keralites returning home.
Clearance in a week
Several entities had evinced interest in investing in Kerala. The State would clear their application for starting industries within a week. The businesses had to give an undertaking that they would complete the mandatory procedure within one year of the start of operations.
He said Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur, with their airport, seaport and railway connectivity, would become logistic hubs for commercial activity. The government would open logistics parks to facilitate import and export of goods and services. It would upgrade the Azhikkal harbour to a world-class commercial port. A mega food park was in the offing in Palakkad. The government would grade investors as gold, silver and bronze star categories based on the employment they generated locally and the spin-off benefits to society.
Opportunities too
Mr. Vijayan sounded optimistic and said the crisis had also created opportunities.
He slammed the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for being irreconcilably partisan in matters of Kerala’s development. Mr. Vijayan blamed the media for amplifying the conspiracy theories of the UDF and said such reporting did not augur well for the State.
He defended hiring by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.