Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev has claimed that the state has translated investment proposals worth over Rs one lakh crore into actual projects in the last five years.
The upfront policy initiatives of the Industries Department have also imparted a vital thrust to Kerala's transformation into a major global ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and hi-tech manufacturing destination of the next decade, he has said.
"Of the total investment mobilised during the period, Rs 27,158.64 crore was received through Year of Enterprise initiative, Rs 55, 365 crore from Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) and around Rs 15,000 crore through the Meet the Investor Programme," the minister has said.
These three initiatives have contributed around Rs 97,858 crore in scores of investment projects, apart from the investments received by the industrial parks, Rajeev told reporters here on Tuesday.
Elaborating on the achievements of the Industries Department, Rajeev said that for the first time, Kerala emerged as the top performer in the ease of doing business reforms action plan in the country.
During this period, Kerala also consecutively ranked the topper among the states in Niti Ayog's SDG India Index.
The state also implemented various policies like Logistics Policy, Export Policy and Graphene policy in the five years.
"Kerala is the first state to come up with an ESG industrial policy, which turned out to be a prime factor for the state to successfully showcase its investment possibilities at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January this year," he noted.
Rajeev said at WEF, the state received investment proposals of Rs 1.18 lakh crore, and the projects are in the implementing stage.
He said the three editions of the Year of Enterprise initiative have yielded more than four lakh SMEs in the state.
"The initiative was cited by the American Society for Public Administration as a successful model. Around 4,06,606 new ventures, Rs 27,158.64 crore investments and 8,66,162 employment opportunities were created as part of the initiative," Rajeev said
