BUREAUCRATIC HARASSMENT , KITEX GROUP WITHDRAWS FROM 3,500 CRORE PROJECT IN KERALA

Adith Mathen Philip

BCJ

Continuous surprise inspections by bureaucrats from various state departments, Kitex group withdraws from 3,500 crore project in Kerala

Sabu Jacob, chairman of Kitex group , the world’s second-largest manufacturer of kids apparel, announced the withdrawal of the Rs 3,500 crore project for which it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kerala government at the 'Ascend Global Investors Meet' in Kochi in January 2020. The plan was to open an apparel park in Kochi and establish industry parks at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Palakkad.

The project report has also been completed and the project would have provided jobs for 20,000 people.

The three industrial parks were envisaged to promote start-ups providing all infrastructural facilities. Each of these parks would have created 5,000 job opportunities.

Jacob had earlier said it was difficult for him to run the existing industrial units in the State. He had alleged that various units of Kitex were raided 10 times by officials from various departments during the past one month.

Jacob had alleged that officials comprising 40-50 in numbers, entered the factory units, carried out searches, prevented workers, including women employees, from doing their job, grilled them and harassed them. He had also claimed that the officials did not reveal the reasons for conducting such searches and what violations were committed by the company.

other states are providing free land, building, water, power and tax holiday for 10 years to investors. "There are states that provide the PF and ESI share of the employees. Some states even offer Rs 5,000 salary for the employees for five years.If the situation continues, Kerala will turn into a graveyard of industries.