THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It may sound ironic. But Kerala, which receives abundant rainfall and boasts of having excellent reservoirs, consumes packaged drinking water worth over Rs 230 crore brought from other states every year!
The surprising revelation came from the GST Department data, which said the state consumed bottled water worth Rs 230 crore in 2020 alone, a year when trade was hit owing to the Covid pandemic.
It also revealed that Kerala spent a whopping Rs 1 lakh crore on various products manufactured in other states in 2020.
Kerala has two packaged drinking water units in public sector and about 100 recognised units in private sector. The units run by Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd together manufacture 40,000 to 50,000 bottles of water a month.
A source in the government said players from other states offer more commission to traders in Kerala.
“A compromise in safety standards can be reasonably assumed in their products as enterprises following all safety standards cannot give commission at their rates,” he said.
The data, meanwhile, provides an insight into the consumer sector in Kerala leveraged by other-state players. Based on this and a few other statistics, the state industries department has prepared a list of promising sectors for new investors.
Kerala has immense scope in food, textile sectors, says Rajeeve
Industries Minister P Rajeeve said a proper market research was done before identifying “sunrise sectors” as part of the new Industrial Policy and also the list of prospective sectors for the Year of Enterprises (YoE) programme.
“The GST data has been immensely helpful. Kerala has little scope in many high-volume businesses like vehicle manufacturing or chemical industry. However, it has potential in sectors like food, textiles, IT and electronics. Based on our guidance, new investors have started tapping into them,” Rajeeve said. Some investors have opted for bottled drinking water plants as part of YoE. “New units are coming up in pharma sector too,” he said.
Meanwhile, the “vehicles and related products” topped the list of goods brought from other states in 2020 with Rs 10,642 crore spent on them. IN second and third places were pharma products, where Kerala spent Rs 7,238 crore and machinery parts where the expense was Rs 5,674 crore.
In 2020, the state also imported rice worth Rs 3,054 crore, packed food worth Rs 2,300 crore and chocolate and related items worth Rs 226 crore from other states. Surprisingly, the ‘land of coconuts’ also imported coconuts and coconut products worth Rs 1,179 crore in 2020.
KOCHI CORP FAILS TO MAKE PRESENCE FELT
Kochi: Though Kochi corporation tried its hand at bottled water manufacturing with the ‘Kochi Water’ project, it failed to make its presence felt allegedly due to the lackadaisical attitude of its officials. The corporation had, in association with Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC), had earmarked Rs 25 lakh for the project. Initially, the project involved selling 20 litres can of water at Rs 20 each. One plant each was set up at Ravipuram, Edappally and Fort Kochi.
Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar, who had opposed the project when it was proposed in 2016, said he has no update on it. “The project is functional at one or two places only,” he said. “I had called a meeting in February last year following complaints from Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation associated with it. No follow-up tookplace. As of now, I think only the Fort Kochi plant is functional,” he said.
200 UNITS REGISTERED WITH FOOD SAFETY DEPT
About 200 packaged drinking water units are registered with the Food Safety Department. ISI, BIS certifications and FSSAI registration are mandatory for such units. A source in the government said other-state players offer more commission to traders