Kerala to have asset management company serving NRIs too

The Kerala State Planning Board is going to set up an Asset Management Company (AMC) in which Kerala's diaspora would be able to participate, its vice-chairman said here on Friday.

K.M. Chandrasekhar, former cabinet secretary and presently the vice-chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board, said this while talking to a group of select mediapersons, adding that the basic aim in setting up this new company was to tap funds for long term infrastructure projects.

"Now it's a matter of time that this new AMC is in place as it has got the clearances, which includes from the SEBI," said Chandrasekhar, adding that this is part of the changes that the board has been undertaking and one segment "that requires a better focus is infrastructure".

"We have classified the infrastructure needs into short, medium and long term and the new AMC will concentrate on raising funds for major projects," he said.

Chandrasekhar said that though banks in Kerala were flush with non-resident deposits, it was easier said than done that such funds could be directed for developmental activities.

"The owners of the funds know exactly where they wish to invest and they are doing it also. In the AMC, the diaspora can participate and park their funds and it would be safe also," said Chandrasekhar.

The deposits of non-residents' (NRIs) in Kerala banks have reached Rs.1,17,349 crores as on June 30, 2015, according to the State Level Bankers Committee report.

He also said the three major cities in the state - Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode - would have free wi-fi facility by December.