Thiruvananthapuram: Both the BJP and Congress expressed their wholehearted support and appreciation for the LDF-led government’s attempt to attract investors as part of the Invest Kerala Global Summit held Friday, with Union Minister of Industry and Supply Piyush Goyal assuring full solidarity from the central government to the southern state.
“We are working with the spirit of cooperative federalism. There is also competition. But that is the sheer recipe for further development of the state,” Goyal said at the event.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced at the event that the Centre will be launching 31 projects in the state worth over Rs 50,000.
The state’s Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said at the event that it is a collective goal to make the state an investment hub, and the opposition is extending full support for it. He also said that the state has not witnessed any trade union strikes in the past 15-20 years in any company and that unions are cooperating with businesses.
“We haven’t done any hartals in the last four years. We request the government to do the same when they are in the opposition,” he said.
The Invest Kerala Global Summit comes in the wake of both parties sparring over the state’s investment climate, fuelled by an article written by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who praised the state’s communist government for its commitment to fostering an investment-friendly climate.
Inaugurating the summit, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state’s investment sector is at a historic turning point. He assured that no investor coming to Kerala would have to face procedural delays or bureaucratic hurdles.
“One example is the Kerala Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Facilitation Act, 2019, under which MSMEs can commence operations by obtaining an acknowledgement certificate from the online Kerala State Road Transport Corporation SWIFT (K-SWIFT) portal. Necessary licences need to be obtained within a period of the next three years and six months,” he said.
The chief minister also said that Kerala has witnessed the establishment of 6,200 startups with an investment of Rs 5,800 crore, creating 62,000 employment opportunities in the state over the last eight years. He added that the government aims to establish 15,000 startups and create one lakh employment opportunities by 2026.
In an article written for The New Indian Express on 14 February, Tharoor had praised the ‘astonishing development’ in Kerala’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. He noted that the state has implemented an industrial policy and has seen significant investment and support for women and transgender entrepreneurs—remarks that invited criticism from his own party members.
Satheesan later stated that he was unaware of the sources Tharoor had relied on for writing the article. He also questioned the legitimacy of the state’s claims regarding the ease of doing business rankings and data on MSMEs.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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