Kerala - Kochi   

State to set up SEZ for electronics hardware

— Photo: H. Vibhu

Traditional start: Industries Minister Elamaram Karim inaugurating a workshop on ‘Electronics hardware industry – Advantage Kerala’ in Kochi on Friday.

KOCHI: A Special Economic Zone exclusively for electronics hardware will be set up in Ernakulam district. Preliminary works on establishing the SEZ had been completed, said Industries Minister Elamaram Karim. He was inaugurating a workshop on ‘Electronics hardware industry – Advantage Kerala,’ jointly organised by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Limited and the Electronic Industries Association of India here on Friday.

The Minister said that Kerala was fast emerging as an electronics manufacturing hub. The State had the best telecom and datacom infrastructure and it offered one of India’s lowest power and water tariffs. It also boasted a human development index on a par with the West and a strategic location on the trans-national trade corridor.

Kerala’s electronics sector was growing at an amazing pace. Availability of skilled and semi-skilled manpower, proximity to West Asian business centres such as Dubai and excellent air connectivity were the advantages for enterprises setting up units in Kerala. The State was currently witnessing an investment boom to the tune of Rs.40,000 crores. An increasing number of major companies were setting up base in the State, he said.

Jainder Singh, IT Secretary, Government of India, said the buying power of people was growing fast. This provided an opportunity to raise production in order to satisfy the demand. The hardware industry was growing at 22.4 per cent despite certain disadvantages such as taxation and insufficient infrastructure. The increasing sales of mobile phones and personal computers provided good opportunity for the growth of hardware industry.

T. Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, said a world class electronics hardware park could be set up where private and public sector units would have a level playing field.

A.G. Rohira, president of Electronic Industries Association of India, emphasised the need for a clear-cut policy on hardware manufacturing. Trading was becoming more profitable than manufacturing. This trend should be arrested, he said.

Manoj Joshi, MD of KSIDC, and Raju Goel, Secretary General of the association, spoke. Later, a discussion was organised where experts presented their viewpoints.

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