In the golden jubilee year of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron) next year, the State government is exploring the possibilities of tapping the company’s potential in the defence and electronics sectors, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve told the Assembly on Tuesday.
The company has a key role to play in the government’s plan to turn Kerala into a hub of electronics hardware technologies. Keltron in its initial years, after it was set up in 1973, was able to land major projects including the ticketing system for the Kolkata Metro and various systems for the organising of the Asian Games in Delhi in 1982.
However, the company fell into a rut and failed to realise its full potential. Now, a turnaround was happening with successive years of profit. Five key equipment for the INS Vikrant, the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier launched last year, were manufactured by Keltron.
Mr. Rajeeve said that as part of the 50th year celebrations, the company would launch one new product every month next year. The government was implementing a project to turn Keltron into a ₹1,000-crore turnover company in the next two years. The company was currently working with the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in various projects. New recruitments, pending after the notification in 2013, were being done now. The possibilities of joint ventures with various companies were being explored, he said.
Unused land of PSUs
Unused land remaining with public sector units (PSU) would be used for setting up private industrial parks in PPP model. The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIDC) had recently conducted a study as per which as much as 361.42 acres of land across 42 PSUs could be utilised for such purposes.
In the first phase of the initiative, a detailed project report would be prepared for 40.4 acres of land. Units that could provide the raw materials for a particular PSU or utilise the byproducts from them would be identified for this purpose. The lands in the possession of panchayats which were earlier earmarked for industrial estates and remained unused would also be utilised.
To a question on complaints regarding the Coconics laptop, he said that there were issues with power switches in some models. These were called back and the issue addressed.
