Kerala Economy

[abygk1]

An article on the coconut sector in Kerala!

Kerala slept under its shade for ages. Today the world is waking up to it. And entrepreneurs are busy building businesses on it...
http://www.economic-update.in/storie...-tree-of-life/

[chekuthan]

[psanthosh]

KFC fast-tracks funding of new enterprises

KOCHI: The Kerala Financial Corp (KFC) has said that funding of new enterprises proposed under the Kerala State Self Entrepreneur Development Mission (KSSEDM) being implemented under KFC will be completed in record time.

Under KSSEDM, major banks like Punjab National Bank (PNB), Canara Bank and State Bank of Travancore (SBT) are now providing funds for various enterprises which have been identified for incubation, according to Yogesh Gupta, chairman and financial director, KFC. "The first phase of registrations, scrutiny, selection and training has seen the emergence of 231 enterprises, associating 571 prospective entrepreneurs, which are in the process of being implemented," Gupta said.

Being the nodal agency for the mission, KFC had organized a meeting of heads of banks with finance minister K M Mani on May 31 in Thiruvananthapuram to activate the process of fund disbursement to the new enterprises identified under the KSSEDM. Punjab National Bank has constituted scheme-specific appraisal cells in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam for the purpose, Gupta said. The Thiruvananthapuram cell has completed the processing of all 22 eligible enterprises in Thiruvananthapuram district and work is on to enable them to draw funds during the first week of this month. In Kollam district, Punjab National Bank has given in-principle clearance to 10 enterprises.

Canara Bank also has sanctioned financial assistance to one of the enterprises under the mission. In one case in Kottayam district, PNB has already disbursed the amount.

Gupta said that applications of nearly 150 enterprises are under process in various districts. KFC is hopeful of sanctioning funds to the maximum number of enterprises at a function to be held in Alappuzha on July 20 in the presence of K M Mani. The registration for the next batch of candidates will start from Friday, July 06. KFC has implemented an automated system, which will enable cyclical repetition of the processes of scrutiny, selection, training and funding every two months.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/14573976.cms

[chekuthan]

Kerala government to oppose FDI in retail sector

Khalid Akhter, New Delhi, July 2, 2012, DHNS
At a time when speculations are rife that the Manmohan Singh-led Finance Ministry will expedite reform measures to boost the country’s sagging economy, Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy said his government will continue to protest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector.

“We are opposed to FDI in retail. When the announcement came, Kerala government opposed. There are lakhs of families in Kerala who are involved in retail sector. if FDI comes in this sector it will badly affect these people,” Chandy told Deccan Herald.

Chandy, however, asserted that he has full faith in the prime minister’s leadership qualities. “The prime minister is an experienced leader on economic front and his vision will help in reviving country’s economy to emerge as world leader,” the Kerala chief minister said.

The 69-year-old leader enumerated the various steps taken by his government to attract foreign investment in the state and create a favourable business environment. The government will organise “Emerging Kerala,” a three-day global meet for business leaders, investors and policy makers, at Kochi, from September 12 to 14.

Replying to queries on general opinion in the party on whether Rahul Gandhi should join the Union Government, the three-time chief minister said: “We want to see him playing a bigger role in party and government. It is upto him when he wants to join government. He is very energetic and sincere leader. I can assure you that he will shine in Indian politics.”

Chandy further asserted that factional fights within the Congress, as noted by party president Sonia Gandhi in her speech to party MPs, should not be allowed beyond a point as it affects party prospects.

“Difference of opinion is fine. Different groups in the party are not new. But everybody should realise that party comes first, groups come next. Factional fights beyond a limit affect party prospects,” he said.

[abygk1]

The session organised by ASSOCHAM was aimed at attracting investors to the ‘Emerging Kerala 2012’ conclave.

http://www.economic-update.in/news/2...ctive-session/

[vinod/kakka]

Originally Posted by abygk1

The session organised by ASSOCHAM was aimed at attracting investors to the ‘Emerging Kerala 2012’ conclave.

http://www.economic-update.in/news/2...ctive-session/

Lots of projects doing a vanishing act from the original list of projects. I guess there would need to be some "hard sell", due to the well...geographic non-distribution of projects.

[chekuthan]

Liquor sales in Kerala going up

Liquor sales in Kerala is on the increase with Rs 433.90 crore collected as revenue in the first two months of the current fiscal (2012-13).

This is a 9.9 per cent increase compared to the revenue earned in the year ago period, Excise Minister K Babu told the state Assembly today.

As for sales during last fiscal, the total turnover of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the sole agency for the sale of foreign liquor, stood at Rs 7,860.12 crore for the year 2011-12, he said.

During 2011-12, 241.78 lakh cases of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and 97.82 lakh cases of beer were sold through KSBC, he said in response to a question from K S Saleeka (CPI-M).
Average consumption of foreign liquor and beer per head in Kerala in comparison with total population of 3.34 crore would come to 6.52 litres and 2.28 litres, respectively, he added.

[chekuthan]

No cities from kerala in firtst 10 list
http://businesstoday.intoday.in/stor.../1/186160.html

Delhi is India's most competitive city, Mumbai next: ReportIANS New Delhi Last Updated: July 11, 2012 | 11:40 IST
TAGS: New Delhi | Mumbai | Institute for Competitiveness | Chennai | Hyderabad and Kolkata
STORY TOOLS
Change font size
Print this story
E-Mail this story
Comment


Share

India's capital has emerged the most competitive city in the country for the third straight time with the commercial hub of Mumbai retaining the second spot, according to a report by an international think tank released Wednesday.

Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, in that order, make up the top five in rankings of the India City Competitiveness Report-2012, compiled by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) that conducts studies in this area for use by businesses and governments.

"Faridabad, with its high growth has drastically improved in its ranking and holds the 29th spot. Similarly Guwahati recorded a wide improvement in its position," says the report, unveiled on Wednesday to coincide with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien's visit.

The fifth edition of the India City Competitiveness Report is based on a model that has been established by celebrated management guru, Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrance University Professor, based at Harvard Business School.

Regarding New Delhi, the report says the city has managed to demonstrate a phenomenal growth over a period of time by balancing demand and development in equal measure. The two areas it is found lagging in are administrative and institutional support.

The report also says that Noida, another city with close proximity to New Delhi, is now giving tough competition to the metros, even as Pune and Ahmedabad, which had very high potential slipped a few notches, but remained in top 10 slots.

Among the smaller cities, while Coimbatore, Mysore, Madurai and Guwahati climbed up, Surat, Lucknow, Agra and Allahabad dropped in their rankings.

"Undoubtedly, Indian cities have the required potential to make their mark across the globe. this is clearly evident with igh urbanization rate of these cities and by the trend of their growth," says the report.

"However, it is required that Indian cities work on their strong areas and use it constructively to attract people from different genres. They should build a brand of their own and not follow some other global city."

Porter's model is founded on four pillars -- the factor conditions, demand conditions, context for strategy and rivalry, and the quality of supporting and related industries. These are further divided into 12 sub-pillars to give information on 50 top cities.

"Cities are drivers of any economy. Their growth will enhance the growth of states and eventually that of the country. In the past few years, they have risen from their age-old shells and proving their potential on the global front," says IFC chair Amit Kapoor.

When benchmarked globally, Indian cities have much to catch up. Delhi, which takes the top slot in the country, is benchmarked at 46.7 -- which is way below 71.4 for New York, 70.4 for London, 55.2 for Shanghai and 69.3 for Hong Kong.

Here's the ranking of top 10 cities and their score:
-Delhi: 69.732
-Mumbai: 67.856
-Chennai: 62.323
-Hyderabad: 61.782
-Kolkata: 61.464
-Gurgaon: 61.167
-Bengaluru: 61.100
-Noida: 60.406
-Pune: 59.854

[DileepKS]

Here is a better report from BS

Kochi: 14th. Was 16th in 2010
Trivandrum: 17th. Was 29th in 2010. Great going!!!
Kozhikode: 21st. Was 33rd in 2010. Great going!!!

[madhu123]

Economic productivity and human development index is best in india.

[DileepKS]

Found the Liveability Index As well

Here is the rankings:

1 Delhi
2 Mumbai
3 Kolkata
4 Hyderabad
5 Chennai
6 Kochi
7 Kozhikode
8 Guwahati
9 Goa
10 Coimbatore
11 Puducherry
12 Vadodara
13 Thiruvananthapuram
14 Nashik
15 Chandigarh
16 Bhubaneswar
17 Ahmedabad
18 Bengaluru
19 Ludhiana
20 Pune

[murlee]

Originally Posted by DileepKS

Here is a better report from BS

Kochi: 14th. Was 16th in 2010
Trivandrum: 17th. Was 29th in 2010. Great going!!!
Kozhikode: 21st. Was 33rd in 2010. Great going!!!

This report u quoted is the 2011 one. The latest that chekuthan posted is the 2012 report from the same agency.

Here is the report: http://www.slideshare.net/amitkapoor...ss-report-2012

[DileepKS]

OK. The 2012 slide says:

Kochi: 15th. Was 14th in 2011 and 16th in 2010
Trivandrum: 19th. Was 17th in 2011 and Was 29th in 2010.
Kozhikode: 20th. Was 21st in 2011 and Was 33rd in 2010. Great going!!!

There is not much of a difference in score for the ranks in 11-20 range.

[mohammedirshad06]

How come 2012? We are just 6 months into 2012.... How can a report consider only Half yearly stats, when many parameters are taken on annual basis?

[murlee]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

How come 2012? We are just 6 months into 2012.... How can a report consider only Half yearly stats, when many parameters are taken on annual basis?

MI.. 2012 just denotes the year is which the report is released. It would primarily consider 2011 stats. That 2011 report was also released in mid 2011.

[PPJ]

These rating seems scientific rather than rediff and TOI readers poll.

[rajkrish]

May be. I guess there are some errors

1. Population is shown as 3279860 for Kochi (The figure is more aligned with the population of the district)
2. Share of total passenger traffic (airways) - just 1.1%. This can't be right and should be many folds higher.
3. GSM users is just 19/lakh which is much less than the actual numbers.
4. Number of commercial bank branches is 634 which again is more aligned with the district figures.

Originally Posted by PPJ

These rating seems scientific rather than rediff and TOI readers poll.

[chekuthan]

Restore STPI scheme, Chandy plea to PM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 11:
The Kerala Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has requested the Prime Minister to restore the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme for reviving the IT industry.

In a letter personally handed over during a meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Chandy said that the scheme was one of the reasons for the success of the industry in India.

The discontinuation of the STPI had deprived several companies, especially those in the SME (small and medium enterprises) sector, the means to fund growth.

The economic meltdown had added to the woes of several small and medium companies.

There is, hence, a strong case for restoration of the STPI scheme at least for the units in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India, Mr Chandy said in his letter.

Over 60 per cent of the entire spending of software companies relate to employee salaries which are taxed.

A levy in the form of corporate tax leaves very little for SME to reinvest, increase headcount and grow, which is absolutely critical to staying globally competitive.

The Chief Minister added that every direct employment in the IT industry lead to four indirect jobs getting created, which has implications for promoting inclusive growth.

Mr Chandy had earlier received a representation from the Group of Technology Companies (GTech), an industry body representing the software companies in Kerala.

“We are extremely grateful to the Chief Minister for bringing to the notice of the Prime Minister, the single biggest problem faced by the IT SMEs,” said Mr V. K. Mathews, Chairman, GTech, and executive chairman of the IBS group.

“We are hopeful that the Centre will consider the restoration of the STPI scheme at the earliest,” he added.

Kerala has nearly 75,000 employees in the IT industry, a majority of whom work for companies in the SME sector.

There is also a threat that the economic problems affecting some of the major markets would lead to closures of many, rendering several professionals jobless.

Unlike the SEZ scheme, the STPI scheme empowers small and medium size IT units to operate without any geographical restrictions.

This would go a long way in decongesting cities, Mr Mathews said.

Besides, the scheme has a successful track record in terms of its implementation and administration benefitting not only its intended recipients but also bringing in foreign exchange.

[chekuthan]

Malappuram is least developed district in Kerala: report

Malappuram is least developed district in Kerala: report

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram


All six districts of Kerala’s Malabar region remain backward with Malappuram, which boasts of having five cabinet ministers, the least developed, according to official data.
The per capita income in Malappuram is the lowest at Rs36,740 followed by Wayanad (Rs39,051), Kasaragod (Rs44,572), Palakkad (Rs50,519), Kozhikode (Rs53,298) and Kannur (Rs53,569), according to the Economic Review 2011 of the state’s Planning Board.
At Rs85,070, Ernakulam’s per capita income is more than double of Malappuram. Kottayam stands second with Rs64,648 followed by Thiruvananthapuram (Rs60,945), Pathanamthitta (Rs60,370), Thrissur (Rs59,127), Alappuzha (Rs57,298), Idukki (Rs54,645) and Kollam (Rs53,595).
Of the state’s 33.3mn population, 43.89% live in these six districts. The decadal population growth rate as an indication of socioeconomic backwardness is the highest in Malappuram (13.39%), followed by Kasaragod (8.18), Palakkad (7.39) Kozhikode (7.31), Kannur (4.84) and Wayanad (4.6).
While the southern districts like Pathanamthitta (-3.12) and Idukki (-1.93) entered the negative territory of the population growth, Alappuzha shows almost nil growth of population (0.6%).
Though 12.31% of the state’s population live in Malappuram, only 10,987 of the 670,516 state-funded jobs are in the district. The document shows stark disparities in all areas including physical infrastructure like road networks.
Of the 2,495 government-funded high schools in the state, only 862 are in Malabar, though the total number of schools in all categories is almost proportionately distributed among the districts.
In the professional colleges category, only 60 of the state’s 189 arts and science colleges and only 31 of the 142 engineering colleges are in Malabar. There 14 government-funded colleges but only six are in Malabar.
These colleges together have a sanctioned intake of 45,147 of which only 9,076 seats are in Malabar.
While the population per doctor in Pathanamthitta is the lowest (6,654 persons for a doctor) it is the highest in Malappuram (11,388).
The co-operative sector is an active player in healthcare in Malabar. Kannur boasts the highest number of hospitals run by co-operatives (17) followed by Kozhikode (14), Thrissur (9), Malappuram (7) and Palakkad and Alappuzha (5 each).
Of a total length of 23,242km of roads maintained by the state’s works department, only 8,060km are in Malabar. Among them, only 1,512 of the 4,342km of the state highways are in Malabar.

[RaufAzi]

High pace of urbanisation in central, northern parts of Kerala

By Arun Jayan - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

12th July 2012 09:15 AM

The Central and Northern parts of Kerala have a high pace of urbanisation with Malappuram district having the largest increase in the urban content within a decade (2001-2011) followed by Kozhikode district, according to the State Urbanisation Report prepared by the Department of Town and Country Planning, which was released on Wednesday.

However, if the urban content from 1971 onwards is taken into account then Kannur district tops the list followed by Ernakulam district. Though Kannur district is having maximum pace in urbanisation, the change in population density is negative indicating spreading of urban area rather than concentration.

Thiruvananthapuram district shows comparatively lower pace in urbanisation, but the change in density is the maximum, indicating comparatively concentrated form of urbanisation in the district.

The report says that though the population density of the state as a whole is high among the Indian states, the population density of urban agglomerates in Kerala is less when compared to cities in other states. ‘’Population density variation is seen within the urban agglomeration. The analysis of change in population of the core and fringe of urban agglomerations shows that the core is either in stagnation stage or even exhibit negative growth, where as fringes grow at a higher rate,’’ says the report.

According to the report, the built-up nature of urban areas of Kerala shows that even within the high density grids, the maximum coverage is only 32 per cent indicating that there are underutilised pockets within the urban areas of Kerala.

‘’The analysis of population growth rate indicates that Kerala is likely to achieve zero population growth in 25 to 30 years. The low population growth rate with high level of urbanisation will increase the scarcity in labour force, especially in agriculture and related activities. This demands for a change in the present practice of agriculture

from a family affair to more of a professionally managed affair. Mechanisation suitable to the state is an inevitable impetus to it,’’ the report recommends.

The report also recommends a detailed study on the underutilisation of land in the urban areas in the state. ‘’The maximum population density that has been achieved even in the core of urban areas in the present human settlement pattern in Kerala is in the range of 6000-7500 persons/ sq km. This is low when compared to urban areas elsewhere in the country indicating a underutilisation of land. A

detailed study is recommended to asses the reasons for the same,’’ the report suggested.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/k...icle564786.ece