Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Kerala is 50 years behind’: But then when has Left promoted industry?





Sabu M Jacob, managing director of Ernakulam based Kitex Group, hit out against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government’s alleged vendetta against him and said ‘Kerala is 50 years behind’.

“The whole world has changed, but in Kerala, it’s still 50-years behind. We have been doing business in Kerala for the past 53 years. I feel really worried about our young generation as there are no jobs for them. Just look around 6.1 million Keralites are working outside the state and abroad. Gone are the days when men from Tamil Nadu used to come to Kerala for jobs. I wish no Kerala businessman faces a situation that I have been facing for a while,” said Jacob.

Sabu Jacob’s Kitex group is the second-largest children’s apparel manufacturer in the world.

The group head recently withdrew from a Rs 3500 Cr project for which it had signed a memorandum with the Kerala government at the ‘Ascend Global Investors Meet’ in Kochi on January 2020.

Sabu said he is being forced to withdraw from his investment plan in Kerala because he is being ‘thrown out’

“I never wanted to leave Kerala. But how long can one bear abuses and torture? The biggest thing one needs is peace of mind and I have lost it. I am not leaving Kerala, they are kicking me out,” he said while boarding the private jet. 

Sabu said he tried his best to stay in Kerala but was forced to make the tough decision as the harassment was increasing day by day. “My father had a big dream of establishing an industry that provides jobs to tens of thousands. But the dreams have been shattered.

Sabu M Jacob, chairman and managing director of Kitex group, said that the company has already acquired 30 acres of land for the apparel park at Kizhakkambalam in Kochi. If completed, the project would have provided jobs to over 20,000 people. The three industrial parks that were supposed to be established in the state would have promoted start-ups by providing them with all infrastructural facilities. Each of these parks would have had the potential to generate over 5,000 direct job opportunities.

Jacob added, “The decision to scrap the project has been taken as I am fed up with the continuous harassment at the hands of the authorities. Whoever invests in Kerala will lose peace of mind and will be driven to suicide.” He further stated that 11 teams of officers from various departments raided the company in the last month, including teams from the Department of labour, factories and boilers, and even a team led by the district collector.

He further said that it is high time that the Kerala government should change the system and make the state industry-friendly. 

Jacob has gone on record to state that the Kerala government is not providing any subsidy, including for power, and also has said that ‘it was all profit for the state government and there has been no professional interest being shown by it.

Jacob claimed that not a single Kerala minister telephoned him to enquire about the reasons for his group’s withdrawal from investing in the state. “But chief ministers of nine states telephoned me.

Industrialists also called me. Now a private jet has been sent for us”, Jacob said and called for a change in the approach of the Kerala government towards industries.

Kerala-based Kitex Garments Ltd. shares have gained nearly 25% in the last five days after the textile company decided to quit Communist-ruled Kerala over increasing harassment by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government.


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