Kerala has sought financial assistance from the Centre to enhance the production incentive for rubber farmers from ₹150 to ₹250.
This was one of the major demands in the memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the inauguration of the Kochi metro on Saturday.
The memorandum urged the Centre to clear various projects, including the Light Metro for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, suburban railway, Thalassery-Mysuru railway line, International Ayurveda Institute and All India Institute of Medical Sciences for which the State had allocated 200 acres at Kozhikode.
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It also sought approval for the second phase of the Kochi metro estimated to cost ₹2,577 crore.
Pointing out that the Centre had promised to release 600 acres from FACT, the State appealed for assistance to set up a urea plant using natural gas as feedstock. It also urged the Prime Minister to grant speedy approval for a petrochemical complex in Kochi on land belonging to FACT.
Urging the Centre to drop the move to privatise Central PSUs such as Hindustan Organics, Hindustan Newsprint and HLL Lifecare Limited, the memorandum said the State was willing to take over the Instrumentation Limited factory.
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Other demands include expansion of the Kochi special economic zone, extension of the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Kochi via Coimbatore and financial aid for the Kovalam-Kasaragod waterway and the K-Fone project to provide Internet connectivity to all houses.
The memorandum urged Mr. Modi to clear the ₹636 crore as dues to Kerala under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and a one-time grant of ₹500 crore to take up drinking water projects in rural areas.
An official press note quoting Mr. Vijayan said the Prime Minister had promised to consider the demands raised by the State. “He also appreciated the efforts of the state on the development front,” it said.