RESOURCESKERALA INDUSTRIES

India is the 4th largest rubber-producing country in the world with Kerala being the state that produces more than 90% of the total rubber for the country.

Located in the Kottayam District of Kerala, the Rubber Board is the leader in rubber production in the country. The State produces 0.6 million tones of natural rubber each year. There are 900 rubber products manufacturing units in Kerala. Rubber’s high demand has opened up immense opportunities for the state. India produces 95% of its rubber wood in Kerala. Historically, the rubber and rubber-based sector has contributed significantly to the State’s growth.

Kerala has a well-established footprint of rubber-based industries such as tyre manufacturing, footwear manufacturing, and other rubber-based products. There are a number of brands of tyres and footwear that are globally recognized and have high export demand. For example, Apollo Tyres, headquartered in Kerala, is one of the top 10 tire manufacturers in the world.

Similarly, the state is also home to many other successful rubber-based businesses, such as Bata India, Liberty Shoes, and Relaxo Footwears, which have a global presence and export their products to various international markets.

The government has undertaken several research initiatives to aid in the growth of the rubber sector including the establishment of the first Rubber Park near Ernakulam, which houses 33 rubber units and conducts research. A second rubber park is being developed in Punalur, Kollam. The Government of Kerala proposes developing a model Rubber Park based on CIAL to provide value addition in the Rubber sector.

Kerala houses the first ever coir factory built in the country in 1859, and today continues to supply 60% of the world wide total demand of white coir fiber. The World Trade Organization (WTO) granted Geographical Indication status to “Alleppey Coir” in 2007. Coir development is an important part of sustainable development since it creates products that are environmentally friendly.

Following the worldwide shift toward eco-friendly products there is an increasing demand for the coir products of Kerala in the international market, especially in Africa, Latin America and Middle East. In addition to domestic use, they are used extensively in housing, construction, agriculture, horticulture, and infrastructure development.

In terms of employment generation and foreign exchange earnings, Kerala’s coir sector is a major traditional industry. Kerala accounts for 61% of coconut production in India and 85% of coir products.

The Coir sector has an estimated 3.75 lakh employees, 80% of whom are women.

Major Coir Products

Coir Yarn and Ropes, Door Mats, Fiber Mats, Coir Door Mats, Coir Mattings, Sisal Mattings, Grass Mattings, Jute Mattings

National Geographic’s Traveler Magazine included Kerala in its list of Ten Paradise of the world in its 1999 edition. The magazine also included Kerala in its list of Top 50 destinations in the world. Since then, Kerala has increasingly become a popular tourist destination.

Tourism is Kerala’s third fastest growing sector due to its distinctive heritage and cultural diversity. According to BBC research on foreign tourist destinations, Kerala is the top choice for foreign tourists. Located in the Western Ghats, Kerala is a coastal state and ranked as one of the cleanest states of the country.

The backwaters of Kerala consist of a network of turquoise and serene streams and canals, all beautifully interwoven. These backwaters are mostly composed of lagoons and lakes that lie parallel to the Arabian Sea.

In 2017, Kerala welcomed 14.67 million domestic tourists and 1.09 million foreign tourists. A sustainable and eco-friendly tourist infrastructure is being developed in Kerala by the state government. As of recent years, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram have been the top two districts in the State for foreign tourist arrivals.

Kerala exports a high amount of traditional handicrafts to other countries. The artisans of Kerala are known for their wood carvings, designer jewelry, and metal idols. Also popular are artifacts made from bamboo, coconut shell, coir, and other materials.

Handicrafts

Handicrafts are one of Kerala’s traditional industries. It is traditional in Kerala to make beautiful handicrafts using ivory, bamboo, palm leaves, seashells, wood, coconut shells, clay, cloth, coir, metals, stone, lacquer ware, etc. Old handicraft classics can be found in palaces, old heritage homes, and museums throughout the state.

Handicrafts Development Corporation of Kerala (HDCK) procures and markets handicraft products, ensuring fair returns to artisans. HDCK has showrooms located at Sree Moolam Shashtiabdapoorthi Memorial Institute (SMSMI) and Kairali Emporia throughout Kerala and India.

Bamboo

Kerala State is regarded as one of the major bamboo diversity centers in India after the North-Eastern Region. It is the Western Ghat region of Kerala which has the best agro-climatic conditions for growing commercial bamboo species.

Kerala State’s bamboo and reed industry is one of its oldest traditional industries. Kerala bamboo is unique in that 67.3% of the bamboo is harvested from gardens rather than forests. Bamboo is also produced through proper systematic plantations by many agencies.

Kerala’s Wayanad district is known for its thick bamboo forests. Farmers from all over Kerala have taken up cultivation of non-thorny bamboo species because of extensions implemented recently in Palakkad, Thrissur, and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

Kerala is home to both conventional and modern industries including mat weaving, basketry, and bamboo ply.

After the formation of Kerala State Bamboo Mission, the Mission initiated several interventions to address the issues facing the sector, including skill development, training for artisans, institutional links, participation in trade fairs, training to trainers and bamboo propagation.

Handloom is a major traditional industrial sector in Kerala. An important part of the economy is the handloom sector. Under the Department of Industries and Commerce, the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Kerala develops policies for promoting and developing the handloom and textile industries.

There are 15,405 weavers and allied workers working in 611 primary handloom cooperative societies in the state, and 17,070 looms.

Additionally, the unorganized sector in the state employs approximately 15,000 weavers. For the marketing of handwoven products, there are 100 showrooms for HANTEX and 50 showrooms for HANVEEV. The Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT) offers training programs for weavers and allied workers. The Handloom Sector incubation center at Balaramapuram serves as an incubator for new enterprises.

Powerloom

The Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Kerala, under the Department of Industries and Commerce, promotes and develops the power loom industry in the state. State-wide, there are 47 cooperative loom societies and 2,032 looms in this sector. Additionally, there are around 800 private looms.

Approximately 3 lakh spindles produce 72 lakh kg of yarn. The Centre for Applied Research and Development in Textiles facilitates the testing of cotton, yarn, and garments.

Key Players

1. Hantex
2. Hanveev
3. Karal Kada
4. Kasavu Kada
5. Kuthampully
6. Kairali Exports

Kerala is considered the “Land of Ayurveda”, home to hundreds of medicinal plants and herbs like Ashwagandha, Brahmi, Amalaki, Bharangi, and Phyllanthus Amarus, and with a 2,000-year-old tradition of Ayurveda. In this state, there are the most GMP-certified Ayurveda manufacturing companies and the most qualified and certified Ayurveda physicians.

GLOBAL AYURVEDA VILLAGE PROJECT- A GOVERNMENT OF KERALA INITIATIVE PROJECT

The Global Ayurveda Village (GAV) project aims to combine the enormous potentials of the sectors of Healthcare and Industries. The goal of this project is to build a Global Center of Excellence in Ayurveda that will overcome the challenges of global recognition for this approach of medicine.

Its aim is to provide an enabling infrastructure, which will improve the growth prospects of Ayurveda by enhancing value-added services and integrating with all other medicinal systems. The Kerala government proposes to develop this project in order to make Kerala the World Capital of Ayurveda. This project is set for 2 locations.

Locations

Site-1 is located at Thonnakkal, Trivandrum, and covers an area of 7.48 acres, which is 33 kms from Trivandrum International Airport. This site has already been leased to M/s Samana Global Ayurvedic Village (Pvt.) Ltd for the purpose of implementing the first stage of Global Ayurveda Village.

Site-2 is located at Varkala, Trivandrum in an area of 63.25 acres which is 55 km from Trivandrum International Airport. The site at Varkala is blessed with natural greenery with coconut trees and a 1.25 km waterfront which makes it one of the top tourist destinations in India. The government has approved the purchase of 33 acres. Fifty-one landowners have written consent to sell the land. Government has sanctioned the use of Rs. 17 crores for land acquisition at Ayiroor village in Varkala Taluk vide G.O (Rt) No. 1295/2018 dated 22/11/2018.

Key Players

1. Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala
2. Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy, Aluva
3. Nagarjuna Ayurveda

Having a coastline of over 580 km and innumerable water bodies, Kerala has a huge potential for inland & marine fishing and fish cultivation. About half of India’s marine fish landings come from Kerala: Sardines, Shrimps, Lobsters, Cuttlefish, Squid, Tuna. Food products exported from the state include marine products.

In 2017-2018, Kerala produced 6.73 lakh tons of fish. Additionally, it stimulates growth in a number of subsidiary industries. The value of marine products exported from Kerala in 2017-2018 increased by 18.18% in value and 12.26 percent in quantity.

Following frozen fish and squid, frozen shrimp continued to dominate the export basket accounting for 35.55 per cent in quantity and 49.41 per cent in earnings and recording a growth of 40.70 per cent in quantity and 34.70 per cent in value in 2017-2018.

Major Markets of Kerala’s marine products in 2017-2018:

1. South East Asia (66, 159 MT)
2. European Union (60,749 MT)
3. USA (14,354 MT)
4. Japan (8,597 MT)
5. Middle East (6,307 MT)
6. China (4,205 MT)
7. Others (18,275 MT)

KINFRA is developing an international-standard petrochemical park in Ambalamugal, Ernakulam District, Kerala. This project is being set up to create an industrial park with modern facilities exclusive to the Petrochemical sector. The Petrochemical Park will be established in approximately 481 acres of land in the FACT premises. The proposed Petrochemical Park will play a massive role in bridging this demand-supply gap of chemicals in South India. This park will be built with an investment of INR 1000 crores, resulting in generating employment of approximately 10,000 to 5,000.

BPCL Kochi refinery is expanding its capacity from 9.5 MTPA to 15.5 MTPA. In the process, 500,000 TPA of propylene will be produced, which will be used to produce value-added products in the petrochemical industry.

Kochi Petchem Park has many advantages including location advantage, value addition potential, access to raw materials and utilities required for downstream industries, pipeline connectivity from the refinery, and the possibility of developing ancillary industries and support services such as logistics and outsourcing.

Further, the Kochi port can be used for easy imports of petrochemicals and chemicals from the cost-effective Middle Eastern region for subsequent value addition.

Kerala is considered one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. With its forests and mountain ranges, numerous rivers, splendid flora and fauna, and all-embracing verdant vegetation, it is a land of rich biodiversity. With its geographical richness, coupled with R&D institutions, Kerala is an extremely powerful life sciences hub.

Indian Biotechnology and Life Sciences sectors have immense potential to become global key players due to their numerous comparative advantages in terms of Research and Development (R&D) facilities, knowledge, skills, and cost effectiveness.

The Government of Kerala is establishing a Life Sciences Park in Thiruvananthapuram with world-class infrastructure facilities for life science based industries and R&D institutions. With the establishment of a Life Sciences Park in Kerala, KSIDC plans to create an innovation ecosystem to promote the Life Sciences sector. As the first integrated life science research park in Thiruvananthapuram, it will serve markets including agriculture, food and nutrition, human health, animal health, and industrial biotechnology.

Kerala is one among the 6 other states in India that is an ESDM (Electronics System Design & Manufacturing) Cluster, contributing to the global demand. Kerala has world-class research, development & testing facilities for the electronic industry. The State of Kerala is the first in the country to set up a company dedicated to electronics (KELTRON).
Kerala holds immense potential for becoming a regional hub for the manufacturing of electronic hardware. There are many companies in Kerala that manufacture various components, products, and services for the defense and high end electronics industries.
Seeing the potential, the Government has taken proactive measures to create state-of-the-art infrastructure such as Electronic Manufacturing Clusters and Electronics Hubs in Kochi to support industries related to electronics hardware.

KELTRON is the first State owned PSU focusing on the Electronics sector. KELTRON has diversified into

Key Players

NeST

With its headquarters in Cochin, NeST is Kerala’s leading private sector firm in electronic manufacturing. With more than 4,000 employees worldwide and a global turnover of USD 200 million, NeST provides innovative technology solutions to vertical markets such as aerospace and communications.

O-E-N India Ltd

Based in Kochi, O-E-N India Ltd, focuses on Automotive Electronics, Consumer Electronics, Communications, and Strategic Electronics.

Electronic Parks

KSIDC ELECTRONIC HARDWARE PARK, ERNAKULAM
Area: 100 acres | Location: Amballoor | Project Cost: INR 600 Crores
KINFRA Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC), Kochi
Area: 66.87 acres | Location: Kakkanad | Project Cost: INR 140.01 crore