Litigations and controversies derail projects: Minister

Many joint venture and IT projects in the private sector in Kerala failed to take off mainly due to rows and litigation over them, state Industries Minister Elamaram Kareen said today.

Though the perception about Kerala that the state was not an investment friendly one has changed, work on IT projects like Shobha Hi-Tech City and Cyber IT Park in Kochi did not start following litigation and controversies over the projects, Kareem told a meet-the-press programme here.

A consensus on the path of development to be adopted in Kerala had to be reached among various political parties and in the society as a whole, Kareem said.

Listing the main achievements of the LDF government's four-year rule, Kareem said the government succeeded in not only protecting public sector units but also initiated steps to start new units in the public sector.
   
Kareem alleged that the Rail Ministry was blocking the proposal to form a joint-venture company between state PSU Autokast at Cherthala in Alappuzha and the Railways to start a wagon-manufacturing plant.
   
As part of strengthening the state PSUs, government has plans to amalgamate small companies of same nature. An expert committee has been asked to look into the possibility of merging Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited and Travancore Cochin Chemicals Limited.