ENVIS Centre: Kerala
State of Environment and Related Issues

Department: In Kerala,the department of industies and commerce is headed by a Principal Secretary to Government. This department is responsible for promoting/ sponsoring, registering, financing and advising industries in the state. The department and its agencies also guide the entrepreneurs in the selection of appropriate industrial ranges in the private, public, joint and co-operative sectors. Directorates of industries and Commerce, Handloom and Textiles, Coir Development, Mining and Geology and 72 Public Sector undertakings fall under this department. Visit Kerala's position is 12^th in the industrial ranking among the major 16 States in India . It was reported that about 22.5 % of the total income of the State came from the secondary sector during 1980-81, which was only 17% during 1970-71. The industrial sector of Kerala employed 15% of the total workers against the national average of 9%.

Industrial Growth Centres:As per scheme announced by the Central Government, Government of Kerala has entrusted Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC) for developing and managing Industrial Growth Centres in various locations in the state. Accordingly KSIDC has acquired /purchased land at four industrially backward locations in the following districts:

 1.Kannur  - Valiyavelicham (Kuthupramba)

2.Kozhikode - Kinalur (Balusserry)

3.Malappuram - Panakkad (Malappuram)

4.Alappuzha - Pallippuram (Cherthala)

             The Industrial Growth Centres at the above locations are under various stages of development and basic infrastructural facilities such as road, water, power, telecommunication etc are already put in place. Steps are being taken to improve the facilities further.Industrial plots are available at these Growth Centres and entrepreneurs can get the same for setting up industrial units, on long lease for a period of ninety years. The units coming up in the IGC are supported by Single Window Clearance Mechanism of State Govt.

Major Industrial Locations: Most of the industrial and commercial establishments in Kerala are concentrated in the coastal zone.Among the coastal districts, Ernakulam and Trivandrum have fairly large number of industries along the coast, followed by Alappuzha, Kollam, Kozhikode , Kannur, Kasargod and Malapuram. Eloor- Edayar- Ambalamugal area is the major industrial area located in the coastal zone in the city of Kochi in Ernakulam District along the banks of the Cochin backwaters.

Major Industries such as

• Fertilizer and Chemicals Travancore Ltd.(FACT)
• Kochi Refineries Ltd.(KRL)
• Hindustan Organic Chemicals (HOC)
•  Cominco Binani and Cochin Shipyard are located in Kochi availing the advantage of the port facilities.

          The world famous Chavara placer deposits of the Kollam district support three major mineral industries in Kerala viz.

• The Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IRE) 
• Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd.(KMML) at Chavara (Kollam)
• The Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) at Veli (Trivandrum).

            These units are situated closer to the sea. The Excel Glass factory situated near Cherthala utilizes the silica sands of the coastal zone of Alappuzha district for the manufacture of glass. Most of the seafood and coir industries in Kerala are located in the coastal area and are concentrated in Alappuzha district. There are 101 seafood factories in the coastal zone with a freezing capacity of approximately 1868 t /day, of which 47 are approved by the European Union. Besides, there are 210 peeling sheds and 217 ice plants. Cashew processing industries, a traditional enterprise in the state are mainly situated in the coastal area of Kollam district.There are about 300 large and medium scale industries and 1,66,000 small scale industries, most of them are located in the coastal area (KSPCB, 20002). Of these 250 large and medium scale industries and 5000 small scale industries are polluting significantly to the environment.   

District-wise break up of Medium and Large Scale Industries in Kerala as on 31-03-2007

Map of Kerala showing important Fishing Harbors & Ports.  

Industrial sector in Kerala

                       Industrial sector in Kerala comprises medium and large industries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and traditional industries. The departments/agencies that deal with medium and large industries are Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board (RIAB), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Centre for Management Development (CMD). The agencies dealing with MSME and traditional industries are Department of Industries and Commerce, Directorate of Handloom and Textiles, Directorate of Coir Development, Khadi and Village Industries Board and Capex. Department of Mining and Geology also comes under this sector. The subsector-wise outlay and expenditure in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan and Annual Plan 2016-17 and 2017-18 are shown in the table below:

Sub Sector-wise Outlay and Expenditure, in lakh