Kerala witnessing investment boom in MSME sector, says Industries Minister P Rajeev

“It is much much higher than the target set by the Industries Department as part of its ‘Year of Enterprises’ initiative,” Rajeev told PTI in an interview.

Challenge accepted!

Rajeev, who is also a prominent leader of the ruling CPI(M), said that the Left government was able to bring in investments to such a large scale by changing the perception that the atmosphere in the state was not conducive for setting up industries.

“We could build confidence among the investors through our actions. We have taken several steps to streamline the policies,” he said.

He added that the government, as part of celebrating the “Year of Enterprises”, had entrusted the Directorate of Industries with the task of setting up 1 lakh MSMEs during 2022-23.

“The response was awesome. Within 245 days, we could achieve the target of one lakh MSMEs. It is expected to cross 1.5 lakh by the end of this financial year,” said Rajeev.

It is a matter of great joy that the Kerala Industries Dept has received national recognition for the Year of Enterprises – 1L+ enterprises in just 235 days. Hon @PMOIndia at the National Conference of State Chief Secretaries, GOI presented this as a best practice in the country.

— P Rajeev (@PRajeevOfficial) January 10, 2023

He claimed that more than 2.6 lakh jobs were generated in the MSMEs sector in the current fiscal and women constituted over 35 per cent of new entrepreneurs in the key sector.

“This data is available on the Industries Department’s website. It is a good achievement,” the minister said.

35000 Women Entrepreneurs!!! Year of Enterprises which created history by starting 1 lakh enterprises in 8 months is making another history for Kerala. This is a proud achievement – more than 35,000 women entrepreneurs! In many sectors, more than 30% are women led enterprises.

— P Rajeev (@PRajeevOfficial) January 2, 2023

License to thrive

Rajeev said that the state Industries Department’s new model for attracting investments in the MSMEs sector was recently identified as a best practice by a national conference of chief secretaries, convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister said that anybody can set up an industry in Kerala without licenses for up to three years under the MSME sector.

“However,” he added, “it should not fall under the Red category. After three years, they have a period of six months within which they should obtain the necessary licenses.”

The minister added that if it is an investment worth over ₹50 crore, a composite licence — all licences required from different departments — would be issued within seven days.

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The minister said that MSME clinics have been constituted in each and every district to treat the enterprises falling sick due to technical, financial, or marketing issues.

“We are also planning to organise fairs at the taluk level exclusively for products from MSMEs, besides promoting their businesses through e-commerce. We are also formulating a plan to scale up MSMEs that have the potential to develop as an enterprise with a ₹100 crore annual turnover,” said Rajeev.

The department is conducting a survey to identify 1,000 such MSMEs.

Turning loss to profit

Dwelling on the performances of state-run PSUs, the Industries minister said that the government’s view is that they should be competent and it has adopted master plans for each and every PSU.

He stated that the objective of the state government was to protect public sector enterprises, while the Centre was keen on “disinvestment policy”.

Referring to the take-over of the loss-making central government-run erstwhile Hindustan Newsprint Limited (HNL) by the Kerala government, Rajeev said that efforts are on to make the paper company achieve an annual turnover of over ₹3,000 crore.

An alternative industrial development model successfully heralded in Kerala with the revival of a defunct central PSU as Kerala Paper Products Limited which commenced commercial scale operations on November 1, 2022, the Kerala Piravi Day. pic.twitter.com/LvS2uObqlK

— P Rajeev (@PRajeevOfficial) November 7, 2022

The company has started manufacturing newsprint and other paper products, and it is expected to reach the break-even point by March this year.

A central public sector undertaking earlier, the 700-acre plant, located at Velloor in Kottayam district, had been defunct since June 2019.

The manufacturing was restarted by the state government last year as part of the revival and restructuring of the facility. The company was renamed as Kerala Paper Products Limited (KPPL).

A bidding war

Rajeev noted that the state government was even ready to take over the units of healthcare major HLL in the state that have been put up for disinvestment, but the Centre’s response was negative.

“Thereafter, they had started the bidding process. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) was authorised to participate in the tender proceedings. But the Centre denied the right to participate in the bidding,” he alleged.

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He reiterated that the state was trying to participate in the bidding process only for those companies that are functional in the state of Kerala. “Taking over HLL units in other states is not our intention,” he added.

“We request the Union government to give it to us. They should give us an opportunity to participate in the bidding process,” he said.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)