The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), now in its 30th year of existence, has achieved a landmark by successfully implementing a slew of projects in a time-bound manner during year 2021-22.

Kinfra is mandated to undertake development of industrial estates to nurture industrialisation in Kerala. Various schemes for ensuring relief and industrial security as part of the Covid-19 rehabilitation policy by the State government have helped it turn in a commendable performance during 2021-22, P Rajeeve, Minister for Industries, said here.

In line with the State government’s Ease of Doing Business policy, Kinfra has simplified various procedures on a time-bound plan, making available better infrastructure facilities such as transportation, electricity, water and communication.

Land allotment apace

Land allotments till January has created at least 20,900 jobs and attracted ₹1,522 crore private investment A comparison of land allotments in the last five years with investments and employment generation for 2021-22 till January, indicates that growth achieved during a single year had matched that of earlier years.

In the last five years, the land allotments stood at 527.21 acres, while 128.82 acres were allotted in 2021-22 (till January 2022) alone. Allotment of multi-story factory buildings stood at 6,80,619.06 sq ft over the past five years while 3,45,800.42 sq ft were allotted until January this year. The number of units, jobs and investments during the 5-year period were 540, 17,228 and ₹1,731.53 crore while during 2021-22 these are 62, 20,888, and ₹1,522.1 crore, respectively.

Industrial corridor project

Year 2021-22 was also a year of significant progress in land acquisition for the Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. Work on land acquisition of 2,240 acres has been charted out at two nodes. Of this, 87 per cent will be acquired by May this year. An investment of ₹10,000 crore is expected at the Palakkad node creating 22,000 direct and 80,000 indirect jobs.

An investment of ₹3,000 crore is expected for the Gift City-Ernakulam node. About 10,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs are likely to be generated here. When complete, this project would generate an estimated ₹600 crore to the state’s exchequer every year, the minister pointed out.

Kinfra parks among best

The Centre’s Industrial Park Rating System has rated as many as five Kinfra parks as the best in the South. These are the Kinfra High Tech Park, Kochi; the Kinfra Mega Food Park, Palakkad; the Kinfra Film & Video Park, Kazhakoottam; the Kinfra Small Industries Park, Mazhuvannur; and the Kinfra Integrated Industrial Park, Kanjikode. Leading companies such as TCS, Tata Elxsi, V-Guard, Agappe Diagnostics, Hykon, Winwish Technologies, Trans Asian Shipping Co and Jolly Coates have been made allotments in 2021-22.

On ongoing projects, Kinfra will spend ₹300 crore on basic infrastructure development for the Petrochemical Park being set up on 481 acres at Kochi Ambalamugal at an investment of ₹1,200 crore. The project has received environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and 230 acres of land have been allotted to 35 investors.

Petrochemical Park project

Of these, 170 acres have been granted to BPCL. These projects are expected to generate close to 11,000 jobs at an investment of ₹10,000 crore. The park, for which construction has been taken up at a cost of ₹150 crore, will be fully operational by October 2024, the minister said.

Idukki Spices Park

The Idukki Spices Park, currently in progress, is a project under the MSME-CDP scheme of the Union MSME Ministry. The first phase involving an investment of ₹12.5 crore is in progress at Muttam. The Centre will provide a grant of ₹5 crore for the project across stages generating about 300 jobs at a total investment of ₹45 crore.

Other ongoing projects

Other ongoing projects include the Electronic Manufacturing Cluster, Kakkanad, Kochi, on 66 acres as part of which the land were allotted to seven units. The project is expected to create 11,230 jobs at an investment of ₹820 crore and would be completed by December 2023.

The International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kakkanad, Kochi, proposes a permanent exhibition centre, especially for the MSME sector. It is likely to be completed by October 2023. The Kinfra Small Industries Park, Mattannur in Kannur, is under construction on 127 acres. The project is expected to create around 200 jobs at an investment of ₹30 crore. The project will be completed by September 2023.

A rice park each is proposed to be built in Palakkad (on five acres) and in Alappuzha (5.5 acres). The construction activities are expected to be completed in 24 months after the land is acquired by March 2023. About 5,000 acres of land have been acquired for industrial purposes in Kannur as part of a land bank.

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