The Kerala State Small Industries Association (KSSIA) has demanded that the State government help small units by granting them title deeds to the land they had hire-purchased from the government on industrial estates and in the industrial development areas as per an April, 1969, order from the government.
Title deeds should be distributed to those industrial unit owners who had fully met their hire-purchase conditions and made full payment to the government, said M. Khalid, president of the association, on Tuesday.
The condition in 1969 was that once the entrepreneur paid the full amount as the cost of the land, title deeds would be granted, but those who had met their obligations had not got the papers for land, he added.
Lack of proper papers for land is a problem for an industrial unit owner because it becomes difficult to access bank credit or transfer the unit to another entrepreneur or even to add a new partner for a project.
There are 17 industrial estates under the State Industries Development Corporation as well as 37 mini industrial estates and seven industrial estates. These include the Palluruthy industrial estate and the Vazhakulam (Mudickal) industrial estates in Ernakulam district. There are estates in Kollam, Thrissur, Kannur and Kasaragod districts.
Industries Department sources said that the government was in the process of discussing new land lease agreements and that the government was keen to see that the industry demand was met even as it took steps to ensure the proper use of industrial land.
