As part of its attempts to consolidate the gains of Emerging Kerala 2012, the State Cabinet on Tuesday took certain affirmative decisions envisaging the establishment of three separate committees to process project proposals.
These included the setting up of an Investment Promotion Council with the Chief Minister as chairman, a seven-member Investment Clearance Board with the Chief Secretary as chairman, and a Committee for Policy Initiatives and Legal Changes, headed by the Finance and Law Minister.
Addressing a post-Cabinet briefing here, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Investment Promotion Council would have Ministers and senior officials on it, with representatives of investors coming in as outside representation. The Investment Clearance Board members will be permanent members, with the Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) as convener. The Principal Secretaries of Finance, Revenue, and Environment, the Law Secretary, and the Managing Director of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation are the other members.
The Committee on Policy Initiatives and Legal Changes will have officials from the Finance and Law departments, with the Secretaries and heads of the departments concerned coming in as special invitees on the basis of the project proposals. The seven-member Investment Clearance Board would evaluate the project proposals. Secretaries and heads of departments would be invited to attend meetings that take up project proposals connected to their respective subjects. Clearance will be given to projects within three months after evaluation and proper studies.
Mr. Chandy said the Committee on Policy Initiatives and Legal Changes had been set up to handle the anticipated changes to procedures and laws. “Only those projects that are suitable for Kerala will come through. The proposals received at the Emerging Kerala meet will be separated subject-wise and handed down to the respective departments. Each Minister will be in charge of such projects,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Cabinet had given approval to a proposal to take back unutilised land allotted to investors for setting up industrial units. Notice will be issued to such investors to launch their units within six months. “Such investors will have to prove their good intention (of starting the unit),” Mr. Chandy said.
The Cabinet formally approved the proposal for setting up the aviation company Air Kerala. It decided to push for the monorail projects proposed for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
