KOZHIKODE: INDUSTRIES Minister Elamaram Kareem said that the resurgence of public sector enterprises in the state during the last five years has created a situation wherein all sorts of industries could operate without fear of being shut down.
The minister was inaugurating the secondphase development of the Kerala Soaps Limited at Vellayil here on Thursday. He said that the reopened public sector enterprise had sold products to the tune of `3 crore since restarting operations on January 1, 2010. With the completion of the second phase, the unit is capable of producing 12,000 Metric Ton as against the earlier 6,000 MT. The products that have been launched are Kerala Sandal, Thrill Exotic and Thrill Chembakam. Kareem said that the refurbished operations of the Kerala Soaps Limited was a signal that jobs in the public sector were secured and that the private sector firms had a lot to learn from it. "This government has decided to open eight more public sector enterprises in the state and seven such units will be launched next month. The government aims to make a profit of `320 crore from the industrial sector by this year and it was `239.75 crore in 2010," said Kareem. Meanwhile, Kareem announced that actress Kavya Madhavan has agreed to be the brand ambassador of Kerala Soaps without being paid. Earlier, Mohanlal had taken up the role of Kerala Handloom's brand ambassadorship.
It is said that the developed unit has received assignments worth `17 lakh from the Gulf and `20 lakh from Andhra Pradesh.