JICA looks into feasibility of linking Kerala with project

KOCHI: Japan International Cooperation Agency is looking into feasibility of linking Kerala with the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor project, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, today said.

JICA was likely to give its report in the next two months, the Minister said interacting with the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry directors and members here.

"It is possible to link Kochi with Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram with Tirunelveli as a garland of the Chennai-Bangalore corridor project," the Minister said.

The associations of businessmen, industrialists and manufacturers across the country should team up and set up committes to put up practical solutions to make the industrial corridors and the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone project environment-friendly, he said.

The manufacturing sector in the country was gradually improving following the value-addition to get more foreign exchange. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises project was also on the path of revival across the country, he said.

Rapid growth in agricultural production, an assured market, reasonable price for the produce and the higher Minimum Support Price are all going to boost the production sector.

Despite the heavy dumping of the Chinese goods in the Asian markets at cheaper rates, the demand for Indian goods is increasing because the quality and the lifespan of the Indian products were better, he said while allaying the fears expressed by the business community.

Waste management was a very important and crucial sector, the Minister said while replying to a query on the steps being taken by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on the problem.

The funds being provided under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the massive city-modernisation scheme should be intellingently tapped by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry by coming up with waste management projects in the cities, he said.

On the demand for interest concessions on the loans extended under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises projects, he said the issue will be taken up at the highest level to find a remedy.