It takes only one minute for an MSME to start in Kerala, as the state now has a highly conducive industrial ecosystem that received the top ranking in the latest Ease of Doing Business rating, said industries minister P Rajeeve.
The minister was interacting with industry leaders in Bengaluru during a roadshow organized by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday.
"The facts are far from the general presumption that Kerala is not suitable for industries," he said, showcasing Kerala's highly enabling ecosystem for a wide range of enterprises and state govt's recent initiatives to enhance ease of doing business. "When the current govt took office, Kerala ranked 28th in ease of doing business. But, after implementing several reforms and a new industrial policy, we accomplished ‘Top Achiever' position in most reform areas in ease of doing business," said Rajeeve.
"By incorporating the advantages and factoring in barriers, we adopted a new industrial policy with the motto ‘nature, people, industry'. We are focussing on knowledge-based industries with 22 priority sectors, including AI, blockchain technology, graphene, big data analytics, machine learning, aerospace and defence," he added. He said the Kerala centralised inspection system enabled randomized software-driven scheduling of statutory inspections on an enterprise. The report is uploaded in the public domain within 48 hours of the inspection.
"As part of the ‘Year of Enterprises' initiative, within two years and six months, we could establish 2,90,000 MSMEs with an investment of over Rs 18,000 crore. Of these, 92,000 are women entrepreneurs and 30 transgenders. Every district has an MSME clinic where investors can get advice. There is an insurance scheme with govt paying 50% of the premium," he said.
"Institute of Chartered Accountants of India offered free service for the first year after the establishment of a unit to prepare GST returns and financial statements. We now have a K-store connected with ration shops to sell MSME products. MSME products worth Rs 9 crore was sold through the stores. Not a single factory was disrupted by workers' agitation in 25 years, thus showing that the state's industrial landscape has turned investor-friendly," said Rajeeve.
The Bengaluru event was part of a series of Kerala Industrial Roadshows to attract investments in the areas of aerospace, artificial intelligence, defence, robotics, biotechnology, electric vehicles, food processing, information technology, logistics, maritime business, shipbuilding, medical instruments and equipment, packaging, research and development, waste treatment and renewable energy sources.