Hero Image

Kerala facilitates steps for Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor project

ALAPPUZHA: The state government has facilitated steps for the execution of much-awaited Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (KBIC) project.


Additional chief secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma said that KBIC is being set up in partnership between the state and Union governments . “So, the state government has finalized and approved the state support agreement (SSA) and shareholder’s agreement(SHA) for KBIC and it has been sent to the Union government.

Once the Centre approves it, both the Centre and state will ink the accords and we will speed the execution of KBIC,” Alkesh Kumar Sharma.

“Over 1,800 acres have been identified for the project in Palakkad and its acquisition works have been facilitated. An international agency will be appointed for master planning of the land and detailed engineering. They will be appointed by National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation. After the signing of the agreement, we will speed up the steps for master planning. It will take eight months for the preparation of the master pan and after its preparation, we will appoint an engineering, procurement and construction(EPC) agency. They will do all the construction and development works of the projects. Simultaneously, we will also start to attract investors those will be willing to invest for setting up factories in KBIC. Funds for all the developmental works project will be provided the central government and land will be provided by the state government. The KBIC will be managed by special purpose vehicle(SPV),” he said.

Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, (KINFRA) is the present nodal agency for this project. KINFRA managing director Santhosh Koshy Thomas said that the agreements for the project would be signed by both the state and central government after the lockdown and land acquisition is moving swiftly.

“As part of this project, six Industrial Manufacturing Clusters (IMC) have been identified in Kerala. The first IMC is prioritized for phase–I development is at Palakkad. Other IMCs are proposed in Kochi, Thrissur, Kannur, Kozhikkode and Idukki. Prioritization is made based on availability of land parcels, transport infrastructure, industrial ecosystem, social infrastructure etc,” said Alkesh.

The industrial sectors identified for investment in Palakkad are food processing, grain mills, rubber, plastics, precision engineering and electronics. The service sector including R &D, fashion,gem, jewellery designing, logistics etc are also expected to play major roles in the industrial development of the selected IMC region. The IMCs will come along the corridor and it is expected to boost the manufacturing activities including IT, bio technology, life sciences etc in the district of Ernakulam , Thrissur and Palakkad in phase-I and districts of Kannur, Kozhikde , Wayanad and Kasargod in phase-II.

“It is expected that the first node will attract a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore with direct employment for 22,000 and indirect employment of 80,000 in less than 4 years from the start of works. The tax revenue to the state is anticipated to the tune of Rs 585 crore per annum. There would be an investment by MSME to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore,” he said.




READ ON APP