Centre's nod to develop Palakkad as industrial smart city provides a boost for Kochi-Bengaluru industrial corridor

Thiruvananthapuram: Centre has approved Kerala government's plan to develop Palakkad as a industrial smart city, providing a major boost to the Kochi-Bengaluru industrial corridor, which is an extension of the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

With the Kerala government already acquiring the 1,710 acre land required for the project at Pudussery-Kannambra regions of Palakkad and obtaining environmental clearance, future activities are expected to commence without much delay.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the industrial city project is a crucial component of the Kochi-Bengaluru hi-tech industrial corridor. It could attract investments worth Rs 10,000 crore and create over 55,000 jobs. "The state's industrial landscape is set to be transformed with the project," he said in a social media post.

State Industries Minister P Rajeev said that they will look to attract projects in a range of sectors like food processing, pharmaceuticals, defence, aerospace, electronics and solid waste management to the smart industrial city. Priority would be given to environment friendly investments and the government will also ensure time bounded clearance to the investors through the single-window clearance systems.

Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial corridor project was approved by Centre back in December 2022. Kerala decided to develop Palakkad and Kochi as nodes.

Extending the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Kochi via Coimbatore, Centre aims at accelerating the growth of the manufacturing sectors of the southern region by making use of the inherent strengths and competitiveness of each region. Availability of talented workforce is a key advantage for Kerala.

The state is also pressing for Centre's nod to develop Kochi under a Global City project, which is also part of the Kochi-Bengaluru industrial corridor project.

Even though the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust Board had approved the project in 2020 as an early bird project of the Kochi-Bengaluru industrial corridor, it is yet to get the Centre's nod. It was envisaged as a trunk infrastructure with investments expected to the tune of Rs. 1,600 crore.