If all goes to plan, the Komalapuram Spinning and Weaving Mills could be buzzing with activity yet again after several years. The government is mulling over the possibility of reviving the operation of the public sector company located at Komalapuram, near here.
The unit was launched as Kerala Spinners Limited as a subsidiary of a private entity in 1964. Later on, the company suffered losses and was illegally shut down in March 2003. The company was declared as a sick unit by the government in 2006. The unit was formally taken over by the government in November 2011 and was handed over to the Kerala State Textiles Corporation Ltd. (KSTC) The company, rechristened as Komalapuram Spinning and Weaving Mills, was subsequently inaugurated by former Finance T.M. Thomas Isaac in February 2011. However, the operation of the unit has not taken off owing to certain legal hurdles.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy convened a meeting of people’s representatives, company officials and trade union leaders at the District Collectorate on Friday. At the meeting, KSTC Managing Director A.V. Rajan informed that machinery worth Rs. 46 crore that were present at the unit remained operable and that there were no procedural obstacles in procuring raw materials or marketing the products. He added that an estimated amount of Rs. 20 crore would be required in re-launching the facility that required a total of 352 employees.
District Collector N. Padmakumar proposed reviving the functioning in two phases. He called for setting a cut-off period of 4-5 months for launching the spinning operations. The commencement of weaving at the factory would require more time for providing specialised training for the workers. An amount of Rs. 2.30 crore must be released to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for launching the tender process to ensure electricity connection at the unit, he added. K.C. Venugopal, MP, urged the Chief Minister to issue the necessary directions to the Advocate General for clearing the existing legal hurdles relating to labour issues.
Mr. Chandy said that former employees, who were laid off at the time of the closure, will be provided the first priority during the employment process.
He added that he would soon call a meeting of the Industries Minister, the Finance Minister, concerned officials and other stakeholders of the company at Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the issue of reviving the company.
