Kochi to host Global Investor Meet on January 9-10

 An electronic hardware and a defence park in Kerala are among 18 mega projects the state government will highlight at the Global Investors Meet here on January 9 and 10.

The government will highlight among others a Kochi- to-Palakkad integrated manufacturing cluster, a defence park at Ottapalam and an electronic hardware park in Ernakulam district.

Also, the focus would be on a medium density fiberboard plant in Perumbavoor and integrated solid waste management systems at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Malappuram.

The meet - ASCEND 2020 here will also see organisers showcasing 70-odd other projects classified as large, medium and small in the descending order of their capital investment and capacity to provide jobs, organisers said in a release here on Monday.

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Mega projects are those which require an investment of more than Rs 100 crore and gives direct employment to at least 500 people, according to the Department of Industries that is convening the high-profile event at the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre, Grand Hyatt, here.

The proposed mega projects further include a Propylene Oxide manufacturing plant of 2,00,000 MPA capacity in the vicinity of BPCL-Kochi Refinery, a PVC manufacturing facility of capacity 150,000 TPA and a Rs 1,864-crore KINFRA-initiated Petrochemical Park of international standards at Ambalamugal in Ernakulam district.

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KINFRA (Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation) is also keen to set up a Rs 400-crore logistics hub (in Palakkad) with warehousing facility, while thrust will also be given to set up a Rs 300-crore cryogenic warehouse in Kochi's Puthuvypeen next to the existing LNG terminal.

The Rs 131-crore Defence Park at 60 acres in Ottapalam of Palakkad district will have central government assistance under the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation scheme.

ASCEND 2020 comes amid a paradigm shift Kerala is experiencing in harnessing industrial investments, according to state Industries Minister E P Jayarajan. Set to showcase at ASCEND is the Invest Kerala Portal (https://invest.kerala.gov.in) as a single-window facilitator for hassle-free investment promotion launched under its Ease of doing business initiatives, the release said.