A consortium of industrialists has identified around 20 acres near Angamaly for what is being proposed as the first private industrial estate in Ernakulam district. The identification of the land and preliminary works to acquire the parcel of land come as a boost to government efforts to help establish industrial estates in the State with the support of private entrepreneurs, cooperatives and industrial consortiums among other entities.
Industry sources said that about 10 acres of the identified land will initially be developed to provide space for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It is estimated that there are more than 15,000 MSMEs in the district and the proposed new industrial estate will not only help existing units expand but also attract more units considering the relaxations that have been provided by the government on conditions for establishing private estates.
Sources in the Kerala State Small Industries Association ( KSSIA) said the government had already agreed to amend the licence period for the industrial estates from the previous 30 years to allow easy transfer. The industries’ association had said fixing the licence period for the private estates at 30 years would discourage new entrants as establishing an industrial unit will take about two to three years and future expansion and modernisation efforts would be affected.
The MSME association had, in a memorandum to the government, pointed out that provisions under clause 17 of the guidelines fixing the licence period at 30 years would go against the spirit of getting private entrepreneurs to invest heavily in new industrial estates.
In the meanwhile, KSSIA general secretary K.A. Joseph reiterated the association’s demand that the right of ownership of land in industrial estates under government control, which were bought by industrial unit owners through a hire-purchase agreement in 1969 from the State, should be transferred to the owners of the units so that the units can be transferred to their heirs or whoever was willing to run the units. He claimed around 4,000 entrepreneurs have been raising the demand and pleading with the government on a decision on the issue since 2012.
