Kerala to attract Rs 10,000 crore investment

Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 (UNI) The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has taken steps to attract investment to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in the private sector, State Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem said today.

Addressing a press conference here in connection with the second anniversary of the LDF government, he said the government had signed an MoU with Sobha Group to build a Sobha high-tech city at Ernakulam with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore. This would create 75,000 jobs directly.

The minister said the government had also signed an MoU with ''Roseboron'' company, owned by the Russian government, for a joint venture project for setting up a 10,000 tonne capacity titanium sponge unit in the state.

He said an expert technical committee, including experts from the ISRO and the Centre, would evaluate its technical aspects.

The proposal for the Rs 960 crore project would be forwarded to the Centre for approval, he added.

The unit would be set up at Chavara in Kollam District, and after the completion of the project, India would be the sixth largest producer of the titanium sponge in the world, he said.

He said the government was negotiating with the Russian company, which had agreed to provide only 26 per cent, to raise its share to 50 per cent.

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