We will not disturb Adani port at Vizhinjam: Kerala industries minister

Says Kerala does not see labour unrest unlike many other states

Kerala is not focussing on big polluting industries and has instead identified 22 priority sectors including artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, spice processing, tourism, and logistics for the state’s growth, says industries minister P Rajeeve. In an interview in Delhi with Indivjal Dhasmana, the minister spoke about several initiatives the government is taking to woo businesses to these sectors and to project Kerala as an attractive destination for investors. Edited excerpts:

 

You have been promoting Kerala as an investment-friendly destination but has the Left Front government been able to shed its anti-business image? 

One hundred per cent. If you look at the latest report of the labour ministry, 26 per cent of industrial strikes in the country were in Tamil Nadu in the last decade or so. Kerala was not among the top-ranking states. Gujarat was at the top of the list in terms of value of business loss due to strikes over this period. Kerala has many large factories. No labour unrest has happened in the state for decades. Not a single managerial-level officer was attacked by workers, unlike what happened in the Maruti Suzuki plant in Gurugram. Similarly, no violent incident happened at an industrial facility in Kerala, unlike what happened at an iPhone facility in Karnataka, or at a Ford plant in Tamil Nadu in recent times.

 

Are businesses buying this new image of the Left Front government? 

The chairman of the Cochin Shipyard has said that not a single manday was lost when the company delivered the prestigious Indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant. Similarly, the BPCL chairman has said that the company could finish its Rs 36,000 crore project in the state before the scheduled time. We have initiated several reforms. That is why Kerala has been adjudged as the number one state in the ease of doing business. In the latest Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) rankings from the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry, Kerala jumped into the top achievers category, a marked ascent from its 2020 status as an aspirer. Earlier, we were in 28th position. Nobody was behind us. Then we moved to the 15th. Now, we have the top rank. We initiated a campaign to start 100,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in a year. In two years and seven months, this campaign has delivered. In the current financial year, 100,000 MSMEs have been set up in seven months. Small players starting businesses with loans by pledging family ornaments or with their own money have come up. We are giving interest subvention for the scheme. Investments to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore have been made in these enterprises over this period. IIM, Indore has conducted a detailed study of this project and it is soon going to be released.

 

Are big businesses also coming to Kerala? 

Yes, of course. To name a few, IBM has set up two campuses and Honeywell Aerospace one, Paris-based multinational Safran has started a development centre. Norwegian Orkla and Denmark’s Oterra have set up manufacturing facilities in the food sector.

 

Why is it then that Kerala is the only state in south India whose share in the country's GDP has declined over the decades, according to the recent report of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister? Besides, its per capita income was 13.5 per cent over the average of other southern states in 2014-15 but it trailed them by 10.9 per cent in 2023-24.

 

We are the 7th-8th top state in terms of per capita income in the country.  We have 1.6 per cent of the country's landscape, and 2.8 per cent of its population and yet are contributing four per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP). Tamil Nadu is a bigger state and is contributing 8.6-8.7 per cent to the country's GDP. This is the correct assessment. I agree our potential is more. That is why we have set a target to raise the state's economy to $1 trillion by 2030.

 

Some states have reviewed projects owned by the Adani group following US prosecutors’ alleged fraud and bribery charges against Gautam Adani and other officials of the group. Will you also follow suit with the Adani Port at Vizhinjam?

 

That project is going on. The former government (the Congress-led United Democratic Front) had entered into an agreement with the Adani group for this port. We are continuing that. Now, it is going to be commissioned. Big ships are coming there. We are not thinking of disturbing those activities. This project is going to be a game-changer for Kerala. The project is bound by a legal framework. Each party would stand by it.  

 

Then why did your government go to court against the Airport Authority of India’s signing of a 50-year concessionaire agreement with the Adani Enterprise to take over Thiruvananthapuram International Airport? That was even before US prosecutors’ charges against Adani.

 

We had acquired land for that airport. It should have been handed over to the state government. We have a very rich experience in managing airports. We are managing an international airport at Kochi - CIAL Solar Power Project - through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

 

If the Adani group shows interest in new projects in Kerala, will the state government consider it?

 

It depends on the conditions. We are not anti-businesses. In 1957, the first communist government led by EMS Namboodripad invited the Birla Group to establish a factory. The government then decided to take equity in private projects to give confidence to businesses. The PPP model was unheard of then. We have our ideological commitment and political perspective. But we are living in a legal framework under the Constitution and we will follow that.