More than 500 fresh business proposals were on the table at Emerging Kerala global connect meet, which concluded here on Friday, but there was a flutter as Chief Minister Ommen Chandy announced a tally of Rs 40,000 crore worth of investment initiatives.
However, since most of them were ongoing projects that got mention during the meet, industry minister P.K. Kunhalikutty played down a government statement on the quantum.
Chandy clarified that expressions of interest made at the meet would be taken up by departments concerned and investors would be invited to make presentations in a month. A final decision would be taken in three months.
He said that there were 413 proposals at the business-to-business sessions and 142 at business-to-government sessions. The seaplane project received 58 proposals. Port-based, food processing, tourism and waste management proposals were also in high demand.
Asked how many proposals out of around Rs 40,000 crore were ongoing projects, Kunhalikutty said the statement detailing the projects ‘is disowned’.
The meet was not for signing MoUs, proposals were mere expressions of interest, Chandy added, saying that no land was being ‘sold’ for any project as alleged by the Opposition.
The government would initiate steps to take over land given to industries and not being put to use. Asked what the extent of this land was, he said it was around just 350 acre.