Kerala government is planning to give relaxation in the Land Reforms Act for big industries that would come up in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
“Steps will be taken to make provision for firms that would make more than Rs 250 crore investment and provide jobs for more than 1,000 people on 15 acres of land. The aim is to make Kerala one of the five investor-friendly states in the country,” he said, while inaugurating ASCEND, the two day global investors’ meet that began in Kochi on Thursday.
“Women will be granted permission to work in the night shift - from 7 pm to 6 am -while making the employers provide safe accommodation for them. Steps to provide water and electricity to industrial units will be taken speedily. The permission for single factory complexes with more than 200,000 square feet and permission from the Geology department will be made under a single window system.
The government also envisages a scheme for providing subsidy for five years for investors who are newly registered, based on the number of employees,” the CM said.
He added, “Action will be taken soon to relax the legislation to construct buildings proportionate to the width of road. At present, no building with more than 18,000 square feet is allowed near a road with a width of 8 meters. All the possibilities that will help industrial growth will be promoted. At present the situation is most favourable for investment in the state. The government is trying to completely eradicate unemployment through industrial growth and also trying to achieve financial growth. The objective is to eradicate unemployment in the next ten years.”
“The environment and infrastructure in the state is very much conducive for investment. Apart from the existing infrastructure like airports and sea ports, expansion of national highways is progressing at a fast rate and high range highways, coastal highways and national waterways are also being completed. Boat services will start this year at Kovalam (Thiruvananthapuram), and Bakel (Kasaragod) waterway,” he said.