Industry

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%.

Most of the industrial and commercial establishments in Kerala are concentrated in the coastal zone. 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. 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 facilites. The world famous Chavara placer deposits of the Kollam district support three major mineral industries in Kerala viz. the Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IRE) and Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd.(KMML) at Chavara (Kollam) and 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.

All the coastal districts have industrial estates located in the coastal area. Besides, there are industrial development areas in Trivandrum (Veli and Akkulam), Alappuzha (Meenamkulam and Aroor) and Kasaragod (Ananthapuram). Industrial growth centres have been identified in Alappuzha, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur. These are to promote the industrial development by providing infrastructure facilities in a planned manner. Sectors like coir have declined tremendously in recent years. It is now quite relevant to revitalize and upgrade the age-old industrial investment; however, the pattern of growth is unevenly distributed.

There are four thermal power plants exist in the coastal area. These are the NTPC Plant at Kayamkulam (~ 350MW), BSES power plant at Pathalam (Ernakulam Dist.) with 40 MW capacity, the diesel power plants situated at Brahmapuram (Ernakulam Dist.) and Nallalam ( Kozhikode ). The former two plants use Naphtha as fuel while the latter use diesel. The NTPC power plant at Kayamkulam is situated on the very bank of the Kayamkulam backwaters in Alappuzha district.

A pilot scale wave power plant (140kw), the only one of its kind in India , is situated in the sea just outside the western breakwater of the fishing harbour at Vizhinjam in Trivandrum District.
District-wise break up of Medium and Large Scale Industries in Kerala as on 31-03-2007

Industrial & Commercial Policy 2007

To achieve high and sustainable economic growth, with specific thrust to social objectives, through rapid industrialization and big leap in commercial activities, with out affecting ecology and environment and to create large-scale employment opportunities for the people of Kerala and ensuring them fair wages and to convert Kerala into an investment friendly destination is the vision of the Industrial & Commercial Policy announced by the Government during 2007. The main features of the Industrial Policy 2007 are as follows:

•  Convert Kerala into a favored destination for Manufacturing, Agro Processing, Health Services, Knowledge-based Industries and Services.
•  Strengthen the State Level Public Enterprises (SLPEs) by technological upgradation, diversification, efficient management system and synergizing with Central Public Sector Undertakings.
•  Make Traditional Industries competitive by modernization, value addition and skill development.
•  Promote and support SMEs as ancillaries to large scale industries as well as a self sustaining entity considering its role as a largest employment provider in the State.
•  Make use of the abundant and highly rich mineral resources of the State to the fullest extent protecting environment and ecology and restricting the mining activity in the Public Sector.
•  Generate massive employment in industrial, commercial and service sectors.
•  Attract huge capital investment on mutually beneficial terms.
•  Tap the rich industrial potential of biotechnology.

Industrial Export

Performance of the export of Cashew Kernels during 2006-07 has recorded a negative growth of 16 per cent compared to the previous year. At the same time export of Tea, Coir products, Coffee etc. recorded positive growth. Details of major commodities exported from Kerala (through Cochin Port ) for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are given in the below Table

Small-scale Industry (SSI)

Small-scale Industry has emerged as a major determining factor in the growth of our economy in terms of employment generation. The sector contributes maximum production for domestic and export markets and produces variety of products ranging from traditional to hightech. Out of the total number of registered working SSI units 195960 units, 41305 units are promoted by women, 6834 by SCs, 1414 by STs and 146407 by others. The additional investment made by the SSI units during 2006-07 (up to 1.10.2006) is Rs.8815 lakh and the employment provided is 12352. The details of district wise number of working SSI units during 2006 - 07 (up to 1.10.2006) and as on March 2007 with investment, employment provided and value of production are given in the table . The working status of SSI units in Kerala is given in the table . Out of the total 195960 units registered so far in the State, the number of units identified as sick as on March 2007 is 7586. Among the sick units, 2376 units are registered for revival and 1280 units are revived. The District Industries Centres revived eight sick units at Kollam, four at Wayanad, two at Kannur and one at Thrissur during 2006-07 .

Special Economic Zone

Special Economic Zone provides high quality and world class infrastructure designed to render cost of products, delivery, logistics and transactions competitive on global basis. The special policy disseminated by the Central Government provides for setting up of SEZs in the public, private, joint sector or by State Governments. The units operating in Special Economic Zones are excluded from the sectoral restrictions prevalent in the conventional manufacturing sector. Apart from this, these units also enjoy other benefits like single - window clearance, 100 per cent exemption of income tax for the first five years, self certificate of activities exemption from routine customs check etc. In India , the total number of valid formal approvals of Special Economic Zone as on August 2007 is 366 of which 142 are notified SEZs. The total investment made in the notified Special Economic Zones comes to Rs.46705 crore with an employment of 40153 during 2006-07.The export from these Special Economic Zones was for Rs.34787 crore with a growth of 52 percent over the previous year.

Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ)

The Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) is one of the seven Special Economic Zones of Central Government. It was set up as a Multi - Product Export Processing Zone in 1984 to boost exports from the State. The Cochin Export Processing Zone was converted into a Special Economic Zone in November 2000. Spread over an area of 103 acres in the newly emerging Kakkanad, mere five kilometers away from the city center, on the Cochin Seaport Airport Highway, it is well connected to the National Highway network. CSEZ is a multi product zone with 81 working units and four under implementation units (as on 31.3.2007) in sectors as varied as software, hardware, engineering, readymade garments, food processing, rubber products, gem & jewellery, manufacturing and with more than 7800 employees making it the single largest employment destination in the State. Both Multi National Corporations and domestic corporates have set up their units in this zone. Export during 2006-07 was of Rs.1037.52 crore as against Rs.696.00 crore during 2005-06, thereby registering a growth of 49.07 percent. During 2006-07, 61 units have been in operation and 19 under implementation units in Kerala. One unit operates in Lakshadweep . Export from EQUs of Kerala was of Rs.1071 crore during 2006-07 and the export during 2007 - 08 is projected as Rs.1250 crore. Five Special Economic Zones have been notified in Kerala during 2006-07, of which three are IT / ITES zones and two Port Based Zones. After the Special Economic Zone Act followed by SEZ Rules of Government of India, along with other States, Kerala has also experienced a rapid increase in the number of proposals and approved SEZs. Eight SEZs have been notified for Kerala after SEZ Act 2005 and the details are given in the below Table

Useful links

http://www.resourcekerala.org/index.php?op=main

http://www.ksidc.org/

(Source : SoE 2005, Economic Review 2007)