It only takes a minute to start venture in Kerala, claims minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 20 (IANS) Kerala Minister for Industries Coir and Law P Rajeeve on Friday claimed that it only takes one minute for an MSME to start in the state.

“It only takes one minute for an MSME to start in Kerala as the state now has a highly conducive industrial ecosystem that received the top ranking in the latest Ease of Doing Business rating by the Union Government,” the minister said while interacting with industry leaders in Bengaluru during a road show organised by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“Regarding ease of doing business, Kerala was ranked 28th position at the time we (the present government) assumed office. But, after implementing several reforms and bringing in a new industrial policy, we could achieve ‘Top Achiever’ position in most number of reform areas in Ease of Doing Business,” claimed the minister.

He added that by incorporating the advantages and factoring in barriers the government has adopted a new industrial policy with the motto ‘nature, people, industry,’ where nature and people come first.

“We are focusing on knowledge-based industries with 22 priority sectors including AI, blockchain technology, Graphene, big data analytics, machine learning, aerospace and defence,” added Rajeeve.

Elaborating on the innovative measures taken by the government, he said that the Kerala Centralised Inspection System (KCIS) marked a paradigm shift in the industrial ecosystem as it enabled randomised software-driven scheduling of statutory inspections done on an enterprise.

“The system is so transparent that the inspection report is uploaded in the public domain within 48 hours of the inspection,” the minister added.

He said that as part of the ‘Year of Enterprises’ initiative, the government established over 2,90,000 MSMEs in Kerala, with an investment of over Rs 18,000 crore.

“Out of this, 92000 are women entrepreneurs and 30 transgenders,” said the Minister.

He added that now every district has an MSME clinic where investors can get advice from the experts when issues arise in business.

“An insurance scheme has been introduced with the government paying 50 per cent of the premium for the MSMEs.”

Referring to various supports extended by the government to new investors, he said, “Institution of Chartered Accounts Association of India (ICAI), offered free service for the first year after the establishment of a unit for preparing GST returns and financial statements.

Citing the example of Cochin Shipyard Limited, the Minister mentioned that not a single factory was disrupted by workers’ agitation in the past 25 years in Kerala, which clearly shows that the state’s industrial landscape has turned totally investor-friendly and adaptive.

The event in Bengaluru was part of a series of Kerala Industrial roadshows planned by the state government to attract investments in the areas of aerospace, artificial intelligence, defence, robotics, biotechnology, electric vehicles, food processing, information technology, logistics, maritime business, shipbuilding, medical instruments and equipment, packaging, research and development, waste treatment, and renewable energy sources.