General

Kerala bestows an investor-friendly environment with well-structured policies and pioneering initiatives. It boasts of a world-class infrastructure. Among the leading commercial and trading centers of India, Kerala offers conducive environment for setting up any industry.

Prominent sectors in Kerala are information technology, tourism, agro-based business including food processing, ready-made garments, ayurvedic medicines, mining, marine products, light engineering, biotechnology & rubber based industries.

The key sectors in Kerala according to their contribution to the state GDP are: rubber, coir, tourism, food processing, and chemicals & fertilizers.

There are nearly 1,274 food processing units in Kerala alone. The processed food units operate mainly in the small-scale sector. Kerala is rich in coconut, spices, fruit juices, vegetables, seafood and processed foods. The spices, pickles and marine products are major food product exports from Kerala. The State could emerge as plantation-based food products exporter through value addition. Its share in the country's total food products export is almost 20 per cent despite possessing limited to land mass. Two thirds of Kerala's total export income comes from processed food. The net sales have grown approximately by 11 per cent for the 9 months ended 31st December 2004. The food processing sector in the State commands nearly Rs 5,000 crore in exports and has a potential to become Rs 30,000-crore worth industry. The industry maintains high inventory since it is dependent on a seasonal raw material.

The traditional industries include handloom, coir, cashew and handicrafts. Handloom is a major industry providing employment to about 2.5 lakh persons. The sector accounts for about 13 per cent of India's handloom exports. The coir industry provides direct employment to 2.7 lakh workers and indirect employment to more than a lakh. Of those directly employed, 84 per cent are women. This industry is second only to agriculture as a source of employment and it accounts for 95 per cent of the country's coir exports.

Among the traditional industries, handicraft is one that has good potential in a globalised regime.

Performance

There are 2,24,524 registered SSI units in the state. Cumulative Number of SSI Units granted Permanent Registration in Kerala is as follows:

The tiny, small, medium or large units in sectors like Information Technology, Tourism, Agro-based business including including food processing, Readymade garments, Ayurvedic medicines,Marine products, Light engineering, Biotechnology & Rubber based industries have been identified as the thrust sector industries.

The details of the Small Scale Industrial Units are as follows: