LDF Government in Kerala ''industry friendly'': CII

Kochi, Oct 13 (UNI) The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) today termed the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, which assumed office in Kerala five months ago, as ''industry friendly''.

CII Kerala State Council Chairman Navas Meeran told reporters here that the ''new government is industry friendly''. The industry had adopted a ''wait and watch'' approach when the LDF Government was sworn-in in May this year with a ''hardliner'' as V S Achuthanandan as Chief Minister.

According to Mr Meeran, the industry department had been open to suggestions made during interactions with chambers of commerce and industry and had ''listened carefully'' to the issues highlighted by them.

Mr Pradipta K Mohapatra, Deputy Chairman, CII, Southern Region, said that Kerala had lagged behind in industrialisation during the past 30 to 40 years. It had also lost out to neighbouring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in providing quality education in professional streams such as engineering.

''The IT industry went to Bangalore or Chennai not because these are beautiful cities but because trained and skilled talent was available in plenty in these cities,'' he said.

However, the key to Kerala's development lay in looking ahead and the state could benefit by not replicating the mistakes made by the other states, he said.

Talking of the nearly US$ five billion that the state receives as non-resident remittances every year, Mr Mohapatra said there was a need for concerted thinking on how to productively use these remittances for wealth creation.

UNI ARC KSK1415