Now Set Up Msme In A Minute In Kerala: Industries Minister | Thiruvananthapuram News

Thiruvananthapuram: Just one minute is enough to SME start in Kerala as the state currently has a very conducive industrial ecosystem which has been rated highest in the latest ranking Ease of doing business assessment, said the Minister of Industry P Rajeeve.
The Minister spoke to industry leaders in Bengaluru during a tour organised by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday.
“The facts are far from the common assumption that Kerala is not suitable for industry,” he said, highlighting Kerala’s ecosystem, which is very conducive to a wide range of businesses, and the recent initiatives of the state government to facilitate ease of doing business. “When the current government came into office, Kerala was ranked 28th in terms of ease of doing business. However, after implementing several reforms and a new industrial policy, we have achieved the position of ‘Top Achiever’ in most areas of reforms in ease of doing business,” Rajeeve said.
“Incorporating the merits and taking into account the barriers, we have adopted a new industrial policy under the slogan ‘Nature, People, Industry’. We are focusing on knowledge-based industries with 22 priority sectors including AI, blockchain, graphene, big data analytics, machine learning, aerospace and defence,” he added. He said the centralised inspection system in Kerala enables random, software-driven scheduling of statutory inspections at an enterprise. The report is uploaded in the public domain within 48 hours of the inspection.
“Under the Year of Entrepreneurship initiative, in two years and six months, we have been able to set up 290,000 MSMEs with an investment of over Rs 18,000 crore. Of these, 92,000 are women entrepreneurs and 30 are transgender entrepreneurs. Every district has an MSME clinic where investors can get advice. There is an insurance scheme where the government pays 50% of the premium,” he said.
“The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India offered free services for the first year after setting up the unit to prepare GST returns and financial statements. Now, we have a K-store connected with ration shops to sell MSME products. MSME products worth Rs 9 crore were sold through the shops. Not a single factory was disrupted due to labour unrest in 25 years, which shows that the industrial landscape of the state has become investor-friendly,” Rajeeve said.
The Bengaluru event was part of the Kerala Industrial Roadshows series aimed at attracting investments in the areas of aerospace, artificial intelligence, defence, robotics, biotechnology, electric vehicles, food processing, information technology, logistics, marine, shipbuilding, medical instruments and equipment, packaging, research and development, waste treatment and renewable energy.