Pinarayi Vijayan

Kochi : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday launched an online mechanism to ensure clearance to investment proposals within 30 days of the application, while calling for more industrial production to take place in the state.

K-SWIFT (Kerala Single Window Interface for Fast, Transparent Clearances), a cutting-edge software application to simplify and speed up approval of government clearances for those looking to launch enterprises in the state, was unveiled at the ASCEND Kerala 2019 – an initiative of the government to position the state as an investment hotspot.

In his address, Vijayan urged the officials to change their attitude towards entrepreneurs.

“The 30 day time limit, which is applicable from village to secretariat level, may be reduced to even 15 days in future. You should not have the wrong belief that advent of industries means exploitation of people,” he said.

“Kerala’s economy has been consumerist where lots of products have buyers, but not much of production is happening in the state. This has to change. We have to increase MSMEs (micro, small, medium enterprises) in the state. Through them, the government aims to provide jobs to around 50,000 people this year,” Vijayan added.

State Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan said ASCEND Kerala 2019 was part of the government’s efforts to form an industry network in the state.

“A new era has dawned upon Kerala’s industry sector. Any delay in taking steps in the online applications would attract serious steps against the departments and officials.

“Specific industrial parks will be set up in private and public sector as per the types of industry. In rural areas, the area limit will be 25 acres. The urban parks will have 15 acres. The government will provide the same facilities to the public sector and private sector parks,” Jayarajan added.

The meet was to showcase Kerala as a top-notch investment destination, where entrepreneurs from India and abroad can set up a wide array of enterprises in a speedy and hassle-free manner with minimum of bureaucratic interventions.

—IANS