The document provides an overview of Kerala's business environment, including its: 1) Geography, demographics, and key economic statistics such as GDP and exports. 2) Infrastructure covering roads, railways, airports, ports, power, and telecom. 3) Industrial infrastructure including tech parks, special economic zones, and prominent industries in IT, electronics, and tourism. 4) Procedures and policies to support business including a single window clearance system and investment promotion agencies.

1. A Comprehensive study on Business Economic Policies and its
Contribution to National GDP and Global Trade & Business
KERALA STATE

2. Geography &
Demography
Spread over 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi)
Located along the coastline to the
extreme south-west of the Indian
peninsula
Districts : 14
Official Language: Malayalam
Has a 580 km long coastline.

3. ECONOMIC FACTS

4. Economics
of Kerala in
Figures

5. Economic Snapshots - GSDP

6. Economic Snapshots - NSDP

7. Contribution of GSVA
In 2019-20, the tertiary sector contributed 64.76% to the state’s gross
service value added (GSVA) at current prices, followed by the
secondary sector contributing 24.79% and primary sector contributing
10.45%.
The tertiary sector increased at a CAGR of 10.91% between 2015-16
and 2019-20. This was driven by storage, transport, financial and real
estate segments.
The secondary sector grew at an average rate of 9.28% between 2015-
16 and 2019-20. This was led by manufacturing, construction,
electricity, gas and water supply segments.
The primary sector expanded at an average rate of 3.88% between
2015-16 and 2019-20, mainly supported by growth across agriculture
and mining and quarrying segments.

8. FDI Inflows &
Investments
• According to the Department for Promotion of Industry
and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the cumulative FDI inflows in
Kerala were valued at US$ 263.53 million between
October 2019 and December 2020.
• The state Government has sanctioned investments of
US$ 100 million, US$ 156 million and US$ 8.3 million for
the Vizhinjam International Seaport project, Kochi Metro
Rail Project and for land acquisition for Kozhikode and
Thiruvananthapuram international airports, respectively.
• In October 2019, state attracted around Rs. 10,000 crore
(US$ 1.43 billion) investment from different investors
belonging from Dubai.
• In 2020, ten investment intentions under IEMs worth Rs.
382 crore (US$ 52.70 million) have been proposed in the
state.

9. Export Trends
• Exports from the state stood at US$ 3.36
billion in FY21*.
• Kerala exported two key items including
marine products and spices in FY21*.
• In FY21*, the total marine products exports
from Kerala accounted for US$ 511.52 million,
which was 15.21% of the total exports.

10. PHYSICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE

11. Roadways
UndertheStateBudget2020-21, the government has allocated
Rs.1,251crore(US$170.5million) towards road transport.
In October 2020, Union Minister for Road Transport,
Highways and MSMEs, Mr. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid
the foundation stone for 8 National Highway projects in
Kerala.
In February 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched
the ‘Smart Roads’ project in Thiruvananthapuram that will be
undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs. 427 crore (US$ 58.91
million).

12. Roadways

13. Railways
Kerala is well connected to other parts of the country via railways. The
State Government has appointed Kerala State Industrial Development
Corporation Ltd (KSIDC) as the nodal agency for developing a project
to establish a north-south High-speed Rail Corridor (HSRC) to facilitate
smooth and speedy passenger movement between various cities and
towns in the state.
Railway divisions in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Madurai
jointly carry out railway operations in Kerala.
As per State Budget 2020-21, new lines for Kochi Metro from Petta to
Thripunithura and from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Kakkanad
InfoPak are proposed at a cost of Rs. 3,025 crore (US$ 412.69 million).

14. Airports
Kerala has three major airports handling
domestic and international flights,
located at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi
and Kozhikode.
Kannur Airport was inaugurated in
December 2018, making Kerala India’s
first state to have four international
airports.
In 2020-21, passenger traffic handled by
the state stood at 10,14,963 from Cochin
airport and 3,81,536 from
Thiruvananthapuram airport.

15. Airports indicators

16. Kerala has 18 ports, of which, Cochin is the
major one. Furthermore, there are three
intermediate and 14 minor ports.
The development activities of the port are
taken care of by the Department of Ports,
Harbour Engineering Department and
Harbour Engineering Department.
Cargo traffic handled by Cochin port was
34.04 million tones in FY20.
Ports

17. Ports

18. Power
As of February 2021, the state had a total installed power generation capacity of
5,836.95 MW, of which 2,189.36 MW was accounted by state utilities, 2,097.20 MW
by central utilities and 1,550.39 MW by the private sector.
As of February 2021, thermal power contributed 3066.96 MW (52.54%) to the total
installed power generation capacity, followed by hydropower at 1856.50 MW
(31.80%), renewable power at 551.78 MW (9.45%) and nuclear power at 362.00
MW (6.20%).
In February 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the 320 KV
Pugalur (Tamil Nadu)-Thrissur (Kerala) power transmission project. The project, built
at a cost of Rs. 5,070 crore, will facilitate the transfer of 2,000 MW power from the
western region to meet the power needs of the state.
In January 2021, Kochi airport commissioned two floating solar power plants with a
combined capacity of 452 KWh to sustain the power needs of the airport.

19. POWER

20. Telecom
As of January 2021, Kerala had an overall tele
density of 129.62%. According to the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Kerala had
44.81 million wireless subscribers and 1.26
million wireline subscribers, as of January 2021.
By end of January 2021, 14.89 million subscribers
had submitted requests for mobile number
portability in Kerala since its inception.
As of June 2020, Kerala had 27.45 million
internet subscribers.

21. SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

22. Education
Kerala has the highest literacy rate among all
states in the country.
In 2020-21, Kerala had a total of 353 AICTE-
approved institutes.

23. Health
Health Services Department, Medical
Education Department, Ayurveda Department
(ISM), Ayurveda Medical Education
Department, Homoeopathy Department &
Homoeopathy Medical Education Department.
As of May 2020, the state had 234 community
health centers, 958 primary health centers
and 5,868 sub-centers.

24. INDUSTRIAL
INFRASTRUCTURE

25. Technopark
• The Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram is spread over 760 acres
• It currently hosts over 300 IT and ITeS companies, employing over
46,000 IT professionals.
Infopark
• The Infopark at Kochi is best suited for ITeS due to its proximity to
the submarine optical-cable landings.
• The total land available with Infopark is 98.25 acres.
Special Economic Zones
• KINFRA Electronics Park SEZ in Kalamassery
• A multi-product SEZ at Kochi
• Two port-based SEZs at Vallarpadam and Puthuvypeen at Kochi
• A food processing SEZ near Calicut
• A pulp and paper SEZ at Kottayam
• A non-conventional energy sources SEZ at Kalamassery

26. District wise
prominent
Industry sector

27. IT & ELECTRONICS

28. Traco Cable Company Limited commenced operations in 1964. It
manufactures high-quality cables and wires in technical collaboration
with Kelesey Engineering Co Ltd, Canada.
TELK was incorporated in 1963 under an agreement with the Government of
Kerala, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, and Hitachi Limited,
Japan. It manufactures transformers, bushings and tap changing gears.
Founded in 1973, Keltron is a state-owned electronics enterprise.. It
provides technical manpower to leading organisations such as Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC).The company’s products span categories
including aerospace electronics, security and surveillance systems, intelligent
transportation systems, strategic electronics products, IT solutions etc
Collabera is a fast-growing, end-to-end information technology services
and solutions provider, working with leading global 2,000 organisations from
banking and financial services, communications, media, manufacturing, retail,
energy and utilities domains.

29. TOURISM

30. Tourism
Popular tourist destinations in Kerala include beaches of
Kovalam, Varkala, Backwaters of Kumarakam,
Alappuzha, hill stations of Ponmudi, Munnar, Wildlife
sanctuaries including the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, the
Eravikulam National Park..
In November 2020 - ‘Tourist Facilitation Centre’ facility
under the project ‘Development of Guruvayur, Kerala.
In November 2020 - solar-powered miniature train was
launched at Veli Tourist Village, Kerala.

31. URBAN DEVELOPMENT

32. Urbanization
The Kerala urban area comprises of six Municipal
Corporations and 87 Municipalities.
The Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project
(KSUDP) is an Asian Development Bank-assisted project
covering the five municipalities of Thiruvananthapuram,
Kochi, Kozhikode, Kollam and Thrissur.
The project focuses on urban infrastructure improvement,
community upgrading, local Government infrastructure
development and capacity building, and implementation
assistance.

33. KEY PROCEDURES AND POLICIES
FOR BUSINESS IN KERALA

34. SINGLE WINDOW
CLEARENCE SYSTEM
A Single-Window Clearance Mechanism (SWM)
was established in June 2000, with an aim to
expedite clearances for new industrial projects.
A state-level board, issues clearances within a
time frame of 45 days to medium and large-scale
industries.
For Small scale industries, District level boards
have been constituted for issuing clearances
within a time frame of 60 days.
Industrial Area Boards have been set up in various
industrial areas of the state for the clearance of
projects within a time frame of 30 days.

35. Investment Promotional offices
The organization is involved
in providing technical
consultancy assistance to
banks by appraisal of
projects for priority sector
lending and to
entrepreneurs in the (SMEs)
sector.
KITCO Limited (formerly, Kerala
Industrial and Technical
Consultancy Organization
Limited):
It provides
infrastructure facilities
for the small-
scale sector.
Directorate of Industries
and Commerce:
It provides infrastructure
facilities to the small-
scale sector through its
major and mini-
industrial estates.
Small Industries
Development Corporation:
The single-window
clearance and monitoring
agency. It acts as a
promotional agency,
entailed in facilitating the
development required for
industry's
continuous growth
Kerala State Industrial
Development
Corporation (KSIDC):
The aim of the
organization is to
speed up industrial
growth in Kerala
through infrastructure
support.
Kerala Industrial
Infrastructure
Development Corporation
(KINFRA):

36. Key
Approvals
Required

37. Key
Approvals
Required

38. COST OF DOING BUSINESS

39. Cost of Doing Business