THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) who returned to the state from abroad following the Covid-19 outbreak are now looking for ways to start new ventures here. Over the past six months, 4,897 expatriates have registered with the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Department Project for Returned Emigrants (NDPREM) scheme, which helps expats start their own businesses. This year’s registrations are much higher than last year’s 1,043. The years before last saw fewer than 1,000 registrations.
The expats’ business interests have also seen a shift. While people mostly favoured service-oriented ventures like taxi/car rentals earlier, now they are gravitating towards restaurants, bakeries, workshops, oil mills, curry powder manufacturing, spice processing units, chappati manufacturing units, farms, sports hubs and gymnasiums. NORKA Resident Vice-Chairman K Varadarajan said, “At present, loans up to Rs 30 lakh are available under NDPREM. The limit will be increased to Rs 50 lakh and the subsidy to 20% from the current 15%. This will enable more Pravasi Keralites to start better ventures. A sum of Rs 18 crore was earlier sanctioned in the state budget. Now, it has been decided to increase this to Rs 40 crore.”
He said 18 financial institutions in Kerala are cooperating with NDPREM. “NORKA has signed an agreement with the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) to provide loans of up to Rs 50 lakh to expatriates for starting ventures. This year, NORKA aims to help 5,000 expatriates start their own businesses,” he said. NORKA is also assisting expatriates set up IT startups. It is also taking steps to provide employment to expats, who returned to the state after losing their jobs, through the Dream Kerala project.