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| Kerala to see new US investment in energy, biotech | |
| Sanjeev Ramachandran / Thiruvananthapuram November 10, 2008, 0:18 IST | |
A handful of small, but promising, industrial projects are likely to make a beeline to the state in the coming years, thanks to the investment friendly measures currently being undertaken by the state’s various industry departments.
Among the sectors that stand to benefit from the new-found investment friendliness of the state industrial department, headed by the Minister for Industry Elamaram Kareem, are those in the non-conventional energy, biotechnology and healthcare space.
A senior official with the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) said that the high-level ministerial delegation, comprising Kerala Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem, Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and top level officials who are currently in the US, have been exploring possible suitors in the American scene who are keen on investing in the state.
Among the companies that are likely to invest in plants that will come up in Kerala are biotech players Solazyme and Agility Bio, photovoltaic panel manufacturer EPV Solar, and others. The official added that the New Jersey-based photovoltaic panels manufacturer EPV Solar is likely to invest close to Rs 4,000 crore in a manufacturing facility in the state, going by the keenness the company has expressed in Kerala’s industrial scene.
“The decision is said to have come about following the ministerial team’s visit to EPV Solar in New Jersey this week. The team had held deliberations with the company top brass, including the CEO, in its bid to seek added investments from the US to Kerala,” the official added.
EPV Solar is said to be in the process of setting up a manufacturing plant at the Kinfra - Nest Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kalamassery, near Kochi. It is being foreseen that the cost of solar panels would go down substantially with EPV Solar setting up its new Kochi manufacturing plant.
It is also being foreseen that healthcare major GE Healthcare is contemplating further expansion of its activities in India, through a tie-up with the home-grown NeST Group, based in Kochi. The official said that SFO Technologies, a NeST Group company, and GE Healthcare signed a cooperation agreement in the presence of the delegation.
“The ministerial team, which had a number of meetings with GE officials, also held talks with the officials behind the manufacturing plant incubators and other devices for infant care of GE Healthcare. Kerala-based technology player Nest Group is a supplier and assembler for GE Healthcare, from its facility in Kochi,” the KSIDC official said.
In the pipeline are projects expected to be launched by US-based biotech companies such as Solazyme and Agility Bio. “The delegation visited Solazyme this week for a first hand experience of the company’s operations in California. The company produces oil out of algae through the biotechnology process, and the oil could be used for various purposes including fuel,” he added.
He added that Solazyme has expressed its desire to set up a pilot plant for algae-based fuel in any of the various developing countries where feed stock for growth of algae could be available in adequate quantity. “Kerala stands a chance to tap the opportunity. It is expected that Solazyme is likely to build a plant in Kerala,” he said.
Agility Bio, another biotechnology company, has also expressed keenness on investing in India in various life sciences projects. The delegation has explained to the US biotech players on the presence of institutions such as the Thiruvananthapuram-based Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, ready availability of quality manpower, initiatives of the state government to develop a Biotechnology Park by Kinfra near Kochi and the proposed KSIDC Life Sciences Park that is to come up soon in Thiruvananthapuram.
Opterna, a high-tech company based in Washington DC also signed a MoU with the Kerala government as part of the visit of the ministerial delegation, in its bid to take forward its plans to set up a manufacturing facility in Kerala.
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