Kerala to tap Rolls-Royce for aircraft maintenance facility

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Not to be overawed by the runaway success of its neighbours, Kerala is embarking on a major roadshow aimed at attracting investments to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore in the next four years. An eight-member team is leaving for the US on Monday on the first leg of an intensive business promotion campaign.
High on the wish-list of the team, led by industry minister PK Kunhalikutty and information minister MM Hassan, is investment for an aircraft maintenance facility at the Cochin International Airport. The team will be meeting up with Rolls Royce officials in the US to discuss the investment, estimated at around Rs 7,000 crore. If the project materialises, it will be the largest investment in the state in recent years, and will hopefully provide the impetus for mega investments in the future.
The Kerala roadshow would be hitting four cities in the US — Chicago, Washington, California and New York — before it moves on to Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, said Mr Kunhalikutty. The corporates that the team will meet include AT&T, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Ernst & Young, and associations like the Indo-American Business Council and the Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association, besides the India Investment Desk of the Indian Embassy.
Mr Kunhalikutty said the roadshow was aimed at giving the message that Kerala was fast becoming an ideal investment destination, and to highlight the fact that in areas like information technology, IT-enabled services and bio-technology, Kerala could match the facilities offered by any other destination.