Kerala Focuses on Knowledge-Based Industries for Jobs & Investment

Kochi, Jul 12 (PTI) Kerala Industries Minister, P Rajeeve, said on Friday that the state government is prioritising industries that rely on knowledge and innovation to create jobs for young people and attract investments. He emphasised the importance of continuing to advance technological initiatives.

The minister was speaking at a panel session on "Government Initiatives for Investment Promotion" at the country's first International Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) here. The July 11-12 flagship event is organised by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in collaboration with IBM.

Noting that the government is trying to transform the state into a knowledge society and economy, Rajeeve said the government initiatives are aimed at transforming Kerala into an investment-friendly state by attracting investments from all sectors.

"The Industrial Policy 2023 has been adopted by recognising the advantages and limitations of the state. Our major strength is IT-skilled human resources and the Industrial Policy has identified 22 priority sectors like AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Robotics, tourism and logistics," he said.

The minister said the government has taken path-breaking steps to attract investments by implementing initiatives like streamlining and simplifying licensing process for entrepreneurs through K-SWIFT, an online single window clearance mechanism.

He further said that within eight months, the state government has given 22 permits for setting up private industrial parks, describing it as a great achievement.

Rajeeve highlighted the campus industrial parks in colleges and providing grace marks for students as the novel initiatives of the government to strengthen the startup ecosystem.

A P M Mohammed Hanish, Principal Secretary, (Industries), who made an elaborate presentation on Kerala's AI ecosystem, said the Industries Department promotes AI-enabled solutions in key sectors, besides establishing AI Enablement Centres to support SMEs.

"The government has taken a highly investment-friendly approach. The seven focus pillars of Industrial Policy 2023 are entrepreneurship, infrastructure, hi-tech transition, skill development, brand equity, business environment and sectoral industrialisation," he said.

Noting that a future-ready skilled workforce is one of the strengths of Kerala, which has industry-academia collaboration as a unique model, he said robust startup ecosystem, women-empowerment, skills in healthcare and a large diaspora ensure the state's skilled future workforce.

Hanish said, based on the aspects of creating best-in-class infrastructure and responsible investment agenda, various incentives have been given to industries, with a focus on sustainable and hi-tech sectors.

In his presentation, Rathan U Kelkar, Secretary, Electronics & IT, said as a forward strategy, Kerala is set to contribute to 10 per cent of India's IT and electronics industry in the next five years. Also, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN can be attained through digital technologies.

Commenting on Bio-IT, he said Kerala Genome Data Centre (KGDC) would be the repository of all genetic data of Kerala and it is expected to be the backbone that will connect over 125 Life Sciences institutions in the state. Also, an AI-powered high capacity data centre is being set up at the Digital University of Kerala.