Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala was engaged in a war of words with Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan over the State’s standing in the ease of doing business ranking during discussions in the Assembly on Thursday.
The verbal spat occurred as Mr. Jayarajan elaborated on the progress achieved by the government in attracting investments to the State. Mr. Chennithala interjected the Minister’s address by lashing out at the government for its alleged failure in preventing the State’s fall in the rankings from 21 to 28 during the Left Democratic Front government’s rule.
His criticism was countered by the Industries Minister who claimed that the State was bound to progress in the rankings after becoming the eighth in the country to undertake the ‘ease of doing business’ reforms as mandated by the Central government.
Ascend Kerala 2020
The Congress leader also accused the government of making tall claims of having attracted huge investments through the Ascend Kerala 2020 global investors meet held in Kochi last year. “While several potential investors were invited to the event, not a single rupee has been invested in the State yet. Despite its efforts to portray the State as an investor-friendly one, no major investment has been made during the LDF rule,” Mr. Chennithala said.
Taking umbrage at the remarks, Mr. Jayarajan accused the Opposition of being perturbed by the government’s achievements and seeking to drive potential investors away by casting aspersions.
He said the event could attract investments worth ₹1 lakh crore through 148 agreements signed during the meet. These included 57 agreements signed by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation ( KSIDC), 16 by Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), and others by District Industries Centres. Of those being implemented through Kinfra, the steps to launch nine enterprises were in their final phase, Mr. Jayarajan said.
