THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Industries Department’s ambitious plan to start industrial clusters across the state has hit a road block as local bodies have given the cold shoulder to the proposal to lease out land for industrial units.
Though there are 70 panchayats with a land bank of 1 to 5 acres and 60 panchayats with less than 1 acre of land, the department has not received any positive response from the local bodies. The local body authorities blame it on a communication disconnect with the District Industrial Centres.
“We are not against industrial units. There are certain norms to be followed before handing over the land under our possession to the Industries Department,” said a panchayat president.
The Industries Department is planning to ensure better coordination with LSGDs to bring the plan back on track. “We are planning to organise coordination meetings with local bodies by the end of April, said the director of Industries and Commerce, P M Francis. According to him the local bodies stand to benefit from the scheme as they would be getting revenue from the infrastructure created.
“The land will be leased out only for operational purpose. Besides the panchayat can be partner in developing the infrastructure.” he said. The decision to pool land came after various Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) complained about shortage off land for setting up independent industrial units. Panchayats, municipalities and corporations have large tracts of unutilised land. Independent units face a lot of regulatory issues.
The Kerala Panchayat Raj rules have imposed various restrictions on operating industries in local body limits.