Industry sore at boiling row
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With the government’s perceived vacillation over projects line-up for the Emerging Kerala, that’s already bogged down by controversies, the trade and industry have begun to express skepticism over the much-touted investment summit.
With less than five days left for the start of the summit here, the government needs to clear the air on many aspects — from assuring probable invest-ors of what a potential investor could get from the state, to developing a methodology to implement new projects, they said.
Certain successful sectors like tourism, healthcare and real estate appear sullen as those who have been the driving forces behind this success have been sidelined.
For insta-nce, the healthcare sector in the Emerging Kerala website has been locked, pointed out a few industry bigwigs. Why? Governm-ent officials have no clear reply.
The construction sector which contributes Rs 8,000 crore to the exchequer a year by way of VAT, registration fees and other taxes, too has been kept out of the meet, say those in the sector.
What needed to be done was showcasing the successful ventures in the state. But, sadly, that was not being done, according to leaders in the related sectors, who pointed out that successful entrepreneurs had not been invited to make presentations.
There is still no clarity on what the government will offer, while fears abound the meet would be similar to the Global Investor Meet (GIM) held by the state a decade ago which was a flop, as most things did not go beyond the signing of MoUs.
Sources in the government admitted there was some confusion. There was the need for taking out some of the projects that were initially lined up for the summit, and it could be done only at the highest level. This sanitation by the chief secretary has made things clearer, they said.
KSIDC managing director and secretary in the industries department, Alkesh Kumar Sharma, said some misunderstandings added to the controversies.
From the onset, it had been clarified that this was only a meet to showcase the strengths of the state. A number of entrepreneurs, including gover-nment agencies, had come forward with projects.
But these were only indicators. Potential investors would thereafter have to have business-to-business meetin-gs with their counterparts here and draw up investment plans, he said.
IUML blasts VS; Bid to spoil investor meet
IUML general secretary KPA Majeed has come out heavily against Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan, saying he was deliberately torpedoing the Emerging Kerala investor summit due in Kochi.
Majeed told the media here that it was only Achuthanandan who continuously attacked the attempts by the UDF government to revitalise the industrial sector.
“It is quite unbecoming of a leader of VS’ stature to criticise everything related to development without proper reasons,” he said.
Majeed also said the government took a proactive role to bring industry to the state and it was open to criticism, and issues, if any, would be addressed in a positive way.
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