Kerala, where the Left parties have a big say in the way the State is run even when they are out of power, used to be widely perceived as a hotbed of industrial militancy, which scared away investors. But the Left Front Government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, which is about a year old in its second consecutive term in office, is striving hard to improve the investment atmosphere.
Industries Minister P. Rajeeve, who is leading the charge to attract fresh investments and change the industrial culture, declared 2022 as the ‘Year of Entrepreneurs’. The Government’s target is to help establish a lakh new MSMEs by the end of the year. The powerful Kerala State Small Industries Association, with a membership of around 6,000 enterprises, has backed the Department strongly while also making demands from the Government.
Mostly in response to these demands, about a dozen reforms are at different stages of completion. Some of the big reforms include the constitution of a statutory grievances settlement system. The framework for the statutory authority is ready. Under this system, an employee who delays clearing fresh investments proposals through wilfulness or inefficiency can be fined. This is the first time a State in India is contemplating such a measure, Mr. Rajeeve claimed.
The Government has drawn up a comprehensive land allotment policy for industrial estates under Government ownership. This is in response to a long-standing demand that entrepreneurs, who have paid the price for the land through a hire-purchase scheme opened in 1969, should get the ownership right over the plot.
The Industries Department has also inducted MSMEs with into the Industries Department platform K-Swift (Single Window Interface for Fast and Transparent Clearance). The induction means fresh investment involving up to ₹50 crore and not in the Red Category of classification by the Pollution Control Board will stand automatically cleared for operations for three years, six months after which the unit has to get all the clearances. However, the new enterprises will not get any exemption from Union Government rules governing establishment of fresh units.
A dashboard will be inaugurated on January 5 to monitor real-time Industries Department activities that include real-time information on status of applications for clearances, status of complaints received by the Department and government schemes. The dashboard will be accessible to all stakeholders, including investors.
The other measures being implemented include branding of products from all industrial estates and areas in the State under the ‘Kerala Brand’ provided the products meet the prescribed standards. The programme has already come into effect for the handloom weaving industry.
President of the Kerala State Small Industries Association M. Khalid and general secretary K. A. Joseph said they welcomed the new initiatives as the sector had suffered during the pandemic. It is estimated that there were around 1.25 lakh MSMEs in operation in the State, employing an average of seven to eight people.
In the midst of these efforts to improve the investment atmosphere, industry sources have complained of the slow pace of decision-making and bureaucratic hurdles to substantially improve the situation in a time-bound manner. They point to long-term pendency of complaints before various stakeholder agencies.
But Mr. Rajeeve is confident of industry providing great support to the reforms and of positive results soon. He to Kerala’s high ranking in the Good Governance Index, which also took into consideration the rise in business in a State. Though Kerala is ranked 28th in the Ease of Doing Business index, the State had improved its score from 44.82 to 85.10, he added.
martin.ka@thehindu.co.in
