Investments in health, manufacturing and tourism sectors have proved to be the only consolation going by the status report of the projects under Emerging Kerala prepared by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), the nodal agency of the meet, accessed by ‘Express’.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s promise, in the valedictory speech of the Emerging Kerala meet held exactly a year back, of Rs 40,000 crore investment coming Kerala’s way still remain a distant dream with projects like the solar energy plant of Rs 500 crore to the much-hyped Rs 2,000-crore Volkswagen’s engine assembly unit yet to take off.
Though a consolidated investment that came through the big ticket event is yet to be worked out, it is the health sector that has gained the maximum, with projects worth about Rs 1,800 crore in various stages of completion. As per a status report of projects, Bio-Medical Device Hub, (Bio360 Life Science Park) in Thonnakkal here, with an investment of Rs 400 crore; multi-speciality hospitals by DM Healthcare promoted by Azad Moopen in Kochi, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kottayam and Kannur; Aster Medicity
Hospital in 40 acres of land in Kochi with an investment of Rs 500 crore and a hospital and nursing project by KIMS (Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences) in Thonnakkal here with an investment of Rs 200 crore, tops the investments happening in the healthcare sector in Kerala.
Also, under healthcare sector are School of Medical Science in Ayurveda by the D C Kizhakemuri Foundation in Vagamon, with an investment of rs 15.50 crore; Geriatric Health Care and Wellness Home by BCG Group on 7.66 acres of land in Kochi, with an investment of Rs 300 crore; a super-specialty hospital in Adoor by Life Line Group (investment Rs 100 crore) and a multi-speciality hospital by the Genesis Institute of Medical Sciences in Kannur, with an investment of Rs 187 crore. The KEF Group, Kozhikode, is coming up with a 200-bed specialty hospital in Kozhikode with an investment of Rs 190 crore.
“The Integrated Refinery Expansion project by BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) worth Rs 1,200 crore and other petrochemical downstream projects such as Duncan-Goenka Group’s Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer rubber project on 50 acres of land in Kochi, with an investment of Rs 600 crore; a Petrochemical Park near BPCL Kochi Refinery by Kothari Chemicals, Chennai (Rs 100 crore investment) and a Rs 220-crore plant of Deepak Nitrite, Vadodara, for cumene in Ambalamugal, Kochi, are progressing,” the report said.
Meanwhile, in the tourism sector, the projects being projected by the KSIDC include Wonderla Amusement City on 68 acres of land in Kizhakkambalam, with an investment of Rs 800 crore; a Rs 122-crore worth domestic helicopter service headquartered in Kochi, Cochin Trade City-Cochin Convention and Trade Centre on 68 acres of land in Aluva (with Rs 1,730-crore investment) and Travancore Gate Plaza by Keralainfoonline.com Pvt Ltd on 35 acres of land in Thonnakkal, with an investment of Rs 900 crore.
In education sector, the Knowledge Centre in Automation by Bosch Rexroth by the way of Centre of Excellence started in College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram; Centre for Competence in Automation Technology in Government Polytechnic in Kalamassery and Advanced Diploma in Mechatronics by Mercedes Benz in College of Engineering, Barton Hill, have come as a respite.
