Kerala offering tech & expertise to 1000 SMEs to help each touch Rs 100 cr turnover, says Industries Minister Rajeeve
Kerala is pursuing an ambitious goal of helping 1000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) scale up to an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore in three years with technology adoption.
“This is part of Kerala’s Mission 1000 programme. The government will handhold these SMEs and help them modernise and adopt best global practices,” Kerala’s Industries, Law & Coir Minister P Rajeeve told ET.
The programme will result in all 1000 SMEs topping an annual turnover of Rs 1,00,000 crore, the minister added.
A capital incentive and subvention of 50% interest for working capital loans are part of the packages to put SMEs on the path of a blistering growth, Rajeeve said.
“There was this campaign that Kerala is not investor-friendly. That is not true.
We are trying to project the positive facet of Kerala, and are attracting investments,” he said.
Last year, the minister added, was declared by the government as a Year of Enterprise with a goal to register one lakh new MSMEs. “We overshot the target by registering 1.39 lakh new enterprises within eight months.
A sizable number of them are led by women and in the food-processing sector.”
In March this year, Kerala approved its new industrial policy, identifying 22 priority sectors for investment which includes information technology, robotics, AI, big data, block chain, space technology, and tourism. “We are also trying to make Kerala the ideal destination for investments in ESG (environment, social & governance).”
Kerala, Rajeeve said, has nurtured one of the best startup ecosystems.
